1
00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:03,560
Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where our mouths

2
00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:07,280
Speaker 1: are agape after hearing the news that Captain America Hillary

3
00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:10,400
Speaker 1: Knight is unprotected by the Boston Fleet ahead of the

4
00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:14,520
Speaker 1: PWHL expansion Draft. It's Thursday, June fifth, and on today's show,

5
00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:16,920
Speaker 1: we'll be chatting with the Athletics Meg Lenahan and Tamara

6
00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:20,439
Speaker 1: Griffin for a mid season NWSL check in, a big

7
00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:23,360
Speaker 1: picture look at what excites and worries them about the league,

8
00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:26,200
Speaker 1: how to handle growing pains as the prices go up,

9
00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:28,760
Speaker 1: and a dive into the standings. Which top of the

10
00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:31,240
Speaker 1: table teams look primed to stay on top, who could

11
00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:33,279
Speaker 1: challenge from the middle of the pack, and is there

12
00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:36,680
Speaker 1: any hope for Utah and Chicago? Plus a hard launch

13
00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,240
Speaker 1: done Wright Night moves and is this keeper the keeper?

14
00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:48,559
Speaker 1: It's all coming up right after this Welcome back slices.

15
00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:53,000
Speaker 1: Here's what you need to know today. Let's start with hockey.

16
00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:56,480
Speaker 1: All six PWHL teams announced the three players they'll be

17
00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:59,880
Speaker 1: protecting during the expansion draft process. As we've said before,

18
00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:02,080
Speaker 1: the fact that teams were allowed to protect just three

19
00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:06,240
Speaker 1: players from the start is absolutely bonkers, and that means

20
00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:09,160
Speaker 1: that these decisions must have been excruciating for the general

21
00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:12,280
Speaker 1: managers and coaching staffs. Some of the protection lists that

22
00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:15,480
Speaker 1: have been released are pretty unsurprising, like Montreal protecting Marie

23
00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:19,520
Speaker 1: Philippe Pulen, Laura Stacey, and Anne Renee Dabien, in Minnesota

24
00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,920
Speaker 1: protecting Taylor Heisie Kendall, Quint Schofield, and Lease Decline. But

25
00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:27,160
Speaker 1: the biggest surprise was Boston opting not to protect Captain

26
00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:31,440
Speaker 1: and superstar Hillary Knight, choosing instead to go with Aaron Frankel,

27
00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:34,640
Speaker 1: Meghan Keller, and Alina Mueller. There is so much to

28
00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:37,920
Speaker 1: unpack from this decision, especially given that in her interview

29
00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:40,920
Speaker 1: on this show less than two weeks ago, Hillary Knight

30
00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:43,440
Speaker 1: mentioned her commitment to bringing a p WHL trophy to

31
00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:47,039
Speaker 1: Boston before the end of her career. Now maybe Boston's

32
00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:49,880
Speaker 1: front office was wondering just when that end might be

33
00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,080
Speaker 1: given Knight's recent announcement that next year's Winner Olympics will

34
00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:55,440
Speaker 1: be her last, but she did say she plans to

35
00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:58,920
Speaker 1: continue playing in the PWHL. Other surprises include the New

36
00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:02,200
Speaker 1: York Sirens failing to protect Alex Carpenter and the Toronto

37
00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,680
Speaker 1: Scepters leaving Sarah nurse vulnerable. Now we just have to

38
00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:07,880
Speaker 1: wait and see if any of those big surprise players

39
00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:10,880
Speaker 1: are willing to negotiate with Seattle or Vancouver or if

40
00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:14,040
Speaker 1: they'll end up getting snatched up in the draft. If

41
00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:16,480
Speaker 1: you want to better understand the decision making that might

42
00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:19,320
Speaker 1: go into when and if players are pursued by Seattle

43
00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:23,160
Speaker 1: and Vancouver during the current exclusive signing window or later

44
00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:26,160
Speaker 1: acquired in the upcoming draft, I highly recommend the June

45
00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:29,120
Speaker 1: four episode of Jackson Jill's podcast. We'll link to that

46
00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,120
Speaker 1: in the show Notes to Soccer. The US women's national

47
00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:34,960
Speaker 1: team defeated a shorthanded Jamaic inside four nil and a

48
00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:37,520
Speaker 1: friendly and energizer park in Saint Louis on Tuesday night,

49
00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:40,440
Speaker 1: Ali sent Nora and lynd Biandolo scored two goals apiece

50
00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:42,960
Speaker 1: to lead the team. Meantime, on the other end of

51
00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:45,799
Speaker 1: the pitch, Fallon Tullis Joyce started her second game for

52
00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:49,480
Speaker 1: the US of this international window, recording clean sheets in both.

53
00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:51,839
Speaker 1: She made two saves in the US team's three nil

54
00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,120
Speaker 1: went over China and didn't have to make any saves

55
00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:56,960
Speaker 1: against Jamaica. After the game, coach Emma Hayes said that

56
00:02:56,960 --> 00:02:58,880
Speaker 1: while she's not yet ready to name a full time

57
00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:01,640
Speaker 1: replacement for long time time keeper A Lissenaire. She noted

58
00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:05,120
Speaker 1: that Tullis Joyce akaid the octopus is ahead when it

59
00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:08,640
Speaker 1: comes to the current pool of keepers. The WNBA on

60
00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:12,040
Speaker 1: Wednesday announced its first monthly honors of the season. The

61
00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:15,240
Speaker 1: Minnesota Link System Feasa Collier was named Western Conference Player

62
00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:17,800
Speaker 1: of the Month after averaging twenty six point eight points

63
00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:20,800
Speaker 1: per game in six games in May, while Atlanta's Ali

64
00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:23,400
Speaker 1: Shagre was awarded Eastern Conference Player of the Month helping

65
00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:25,600
Speaker 1: lead the dream to a five and two record with

66
00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:28,760
Speaker 1: twenty one point four points per game. The league also

67
00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,600
Speaker 1: named Washington Mystics forward Kiki erie Fen Rookie of the

68
00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:34,560
Speaker 1: Month after she recorded thirteen point nine points per game

69
00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:36,640
Speaker 1: and ten point one rebounds per game in her first

70
00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:40,680
Speaker 1: seven games as a pro. A double double is insane.

71
00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:45,160
Speaker 1: Eriefn also responsible for multiple reverse welcome to the WNBA moments,

72
00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:48,000
Speaker 1: as the rookie's been sitting vets on their asses with

73
00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:51,200
Speaker 1: big blocks and sturdy screens since day one of the season.

74
00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:52,960
Speaker 1: Coach of the Month honors went to the New York

75
00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,680
Speaker 1: Liberty Sandy Brondello, which feels pretty deserved given that during

76
00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:58,920
Speaker 1: the month of May, the undefeated Liberty led the league

77
00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,200
Speaker 1: in points per game, assists per game, defensive rebounds per game,

78
00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:04,200
Speaker 1: blocks per game, three per game, field goal percentage, lowest

79
00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:06,400
Speaker 1: opponent field goal percentage, true shooting percentage, just assist to

80
00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:09,360
Speaker 1: turnover ratio, net rating, offensive rating, and defensive rating. So

81
00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:14,440
Speaker 1: basically all of the stats more hoops news and the

82
00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:20,080
Speaker 1: best kind, especially during Pride Month. Hoops and gayshit Olivia Miles,

83
00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:22,720
Speaker 1: the former Notre Dame standout who transferred to TCU after

84
00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,240
Speaker 1: last season, and Matty Westbeld, recent Notre Dame grad now

85
00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,000
Speaker 1: in her first year with the Chicago Sky Hard launched

86
00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,159
Speaker 1: their relationship with a cat who has a hyphenated name

87
00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:37,080
Speaker 1: in his own Instagram, yep Bean. Miles Westbeld is the

88
00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:40,600
Speaker 1: debonair Kat's son of the two former teammates and his Insta.

89
00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:43,039
Speaker 1: Along with a recent post by Miles featuring a couple

90
00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,640
Speaker 1: picks of the two hoopers, canoodling constitutes the official hard

91
00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:50,560
Speaker 1: launch for the Irish duo, commented fellow Irish Hooper Kaylie Watson,

92
00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:55,640
Speaker 1: and the Hard launch I'm in tears with lots of emojis.

93
00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:58,760
Speaker 1: We feel the same way, congrats to the happy couple

94
00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,240
Speaker 1: to softba all. The Women's College World Series continues tonight

95
00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:04,400
Speaker 1: with Game two of the best of three series between

96
00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:08,120
Speaker 1: Number six Texas and Number twelve Texas Tech. We're recording

97
00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:10,720
Speaker 1: this before Game one wrapped on Wednesday night, but we're

98
00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,240
Speaker 1: sure all of you slices were watching that game live

99
00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:16,880
Speaker 1: along with many other folks. Because the College World Series

100
00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:20,920
Speaker 1: has been drawing huge numbers, The pre Finals World Series

101
00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:23,800
Speaker 1: games have been averaging one point one million viewers, up

102
00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:27,240
Speaker 1: twenty five percent year over year. It's ESPN's most watched

103
00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:30,919
Speaker 1: pre Finals College World Series on record. To tennis. The

104
00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:33,400
Speaker 1: French Open continues today with the semi finals at the

105
00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:36,520
Speaker 1: women's tourney. First up at nine am Eastern Arena Sabalanka

106
00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:39,760
Speaker 1: takes on Igaspontech. Then after that match wraps, it'll be

107
00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:43,760
Speaker 1: Coco Golf taking on hometown favorite Los Boisson of France.

108
00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,400
Speaker 1: Ranked three hundred and sixty first in the world, she

109
00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:49,960
Speaker 1: has a fairy tale run to make it to this stage.

110
00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:52,680
Speaker 1: Boissan is the first woman to reach the semifinals at

111
00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,680
Speaker 1: her debut Grand Slam tournament since Jennifer Capriotti at the

112
00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:59,040
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety French Open. And she's the first women's wildcard

113
00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:01,400
Speaker 1: entry ever to reach the French Open semis in the

114
00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:05,000
Speaker 1: open era that dates back to nineteen sixty eight. The

115
00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:07,320
Speaker 1: twenty two year old tore her acl last year, just

116
00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:09,320
Speaker 1: one week ahead of the French Open, which prevented her

117
00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:12,000
Speaker 1: from accepting an invitation to compete in the tournament. What

118
00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:14,880
Speaker 1: a comeback for Boisson and what a cool scene for

119
00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:17,039
Speaker 1: her to be doing it in France. We'll link to

120
00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:20,279
Speaker 1: the full tournament schedule in the show notes. Finally, an

121
00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:22,960
Speaker 1: update on a story we mentioned earlier this week. We

122
00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:25,839
Speaker 1: told you about the absolute piece of shit heckler that

123
00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:28,440
Speaker 1: five time Olympic medalist Gabby Thomas had to deal with

124
00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:30,680
Speaker 1: while she was competing at a Grand Slam Track event

125
00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:34,440
Speaker 1: in Philadelphia over the weekend. While on Wednesday, Fan Duel

126
00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,400
Speaker 1: told DESPN that the company has banned the man from

127
00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:40,640
Speaker 1: using their services. The man had posted on social media

128
00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:43,359
Speaker 1: quote I made Gabby lues by heckling her and it

129
00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:47,040
Speaker 1: made my parlay win, alongside screenshots of a one thousand

130
00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:50,920
Speaker 1: dollars parlay bet on FanDuel go round and find out

131
00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:56,400
Speaker 1: bro ground and find out we got to take a

132
00:06:56,440 --> 00:06:58,480
Speaker 1: quick break when we come back the state of the

133
00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:09,159
Speaker 1: NWSL with Megan to joining us now. She's a senior

134
00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:11,760
Speaker 1: writer and the women's sports lead at The Athletic. The

135
00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:14,720
Speaker 1: co host of the fantastic weekly podcast full Time with Meglenahan.

136
00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:17,280
Speaker 1: She's everybody's go to journalist for coverage of the US

137
00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:20,000
Speaker 1: women's national team, the NWSL, and all things women's soccer.

138
00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:22,640
Speaker 1: Her dog Dewit's gonna be a big bro because she

139
00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:25,200
Speaker 1: and her wife have a baby do in August fingers

140
00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:28,640
Speaker 1: crossed for an eight to eighteen birthday. It's the best.

141
00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:33,040
Speaker 1: It's Meg Lenahan. Welcome back bag, Hello, Hello, Hello, congratulation,

142
00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,640
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you, very exciting news joining her. The

143
00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,040
Speaker 1: other co host of Full Time with Meglenahan and now

144
00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:42,040
Speaker 1: a full time women's soccer writer for The Athletic. She's

145
00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:44,160
Speaker 1: known for not just soccer writing, but also her coverage

146
00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:47,000
Speaker 1: of the intersection of fashion, style, art and visual culture.

147
00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:48,920
Speaker 1: She's a new auntie and she can order you a

148
00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:52,040
Speaker 1: coffee in French and Portuguese. It's Tamara Griffin. Hi, Tamara.

149
00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:54,600
Speaker 2: I'm so flat that I was not ready for that.

150
00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:58,640
Speaker 1: Hi. Can you say swing and Portuguese right now? Ah,

151
00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:04,640
Speaker 1: Bondia and simple enough before we get to the NWSL.

152
00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:10,400
Speaker 1: We have actually a quick hockey tangent. Okay, because on Tuesday,

153
00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:13,120
Speaker 1: the PWHL announced the three players each team was protecting

154
00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:15,600
Speaker 1: ahead of the upcoming expansion Draft, and the biggest surprise

155
00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:18,640
Speaker 1: by far, especially for us having just had her on

156
00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:21,480
Speaker 1: the show and joking about how it would be hilarious

157
00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:25,440
Speaker 1: if somehow she wasn't protected, was Boston Fleet captain and

158
00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:28,600
Speaker 1: Captain America Hillary Knight. Meg, you're a friend of Hillary's,

159
00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:31,400
Speaker 1: you're an East Coaster, and you wrote about this on

160
00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:35,280
Speaker 1: Blue Sky and said, quote personal bias aside, including honestly

161
00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,079
Speaker 1: feeling like Hillary Knight belongs in Boston, but just looking

162
00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:40,920
Speaker 1: at it with NWSL glasses on, it's intensely wild that

163
00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:42,840
Speaker 1: a player of this caliber, in this stage of her

164
00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:46,200
Speaker 1: career has essentially no control over where she's playing in

165
00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:48,679
Speaker 1: the lead up to the Olympics too. End quote. I

166
00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:50,440
Speaker 1: totally agree with you, And of course some of that

167
00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:53,760
Speaker 1: is that the PWHL is only two seasons old, even

168
00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:55,920
Speaker 1: though Hillary Knight's pro career is much older than that.

169
00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:58,920
Speaker 1: But what were your initial thoughts when you saw the

170
00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:02,600
Speaker 1: expansion draft rule only protecting three players and the whole

171
00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:03,480
Speaker 1: night all of it.

172
00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:06,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it is interesting just because obviously the

173
00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:08,719
Speaker 3: NBCL has done away with the expansion Draft and we're

174
00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:10,959
Speaker 3: about to like live through it from an NWCL point

175
00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:13,480
Speaker 3: of view with Boston and Denver coming into the league,

176
00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:16,520
Speaker 3: and we still need the final rundown of how this

177
00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:19,520
Speaker 3: is going to look without an expansion draft. But the

178
00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:23,000
Speaker 3: PWHL expansion Draft heavily favors the two teams coming in

179
00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:26,480
Speaker 3: like you can build. I mean, Hillary Knight's unprotected, Sarah

180
00:09:26,559 --> 00:09:30,520
Speaker 3: Nurse is unprotected, Alice Carpenter is under unprotected. Like yeah,

181
00:09:30,559 --> 00:09:33,400
Speaker 3: like just the sheer list of names. Like if an

182
00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:37,240
Speaker 3: NWBCL team had come in with that caliber a player

183
00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:39,800
Speaker 3: available to them, I think they would have been weeping

184
00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:41,120
Speaker 3: with joy.

185
00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:42,600
Speaker 4: But it is.

186
00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:44,960
Speaker 3: Really and like, yes, one hundred percent bias when it

187
00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:46,840
Speaker 3: comes to Hillary, I do get the sense that this

188
00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:49,720
Speaker 3: was not anknown thing that was about to happen, and

189
00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:52,920
Speaker 3: there is that period of free agency negotiation, right, so

190
00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:55,920
Speaker 3: like there is maybe that angle, but like if you

191
00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:59,120
Speaker 3: live in Boston and you have your stuff in Boston,

192
00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:02,200
Speaker 3: this isn't an NBA shock trade or anything.

193
00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:03,439
Speaker 4: These players aren't.

194
00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:05,760
Speaker 3: Super wealthy and can just kind of pick up and

195
00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:08,440
Speaker 3: move at the drop of a hat. And it's just

196
00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:10,840
Speaker 3: I don't know. I think like this is why the

197
00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:15,680
Speaker 3: NWSL Players Association has been so thoughtful and intentional about

198
00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:19,440
Speaker 3: realizing how important it is for players to have control

199
00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:22,120
Speaker 3: over where they and free agency was so important to

200
00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:26,320
Speaker 3: the NWLPA. So again, like the lifespan of these leagues

201
00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,160
Speaker 3: does come into it. But yeah, heading into her her

202
00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:32,040
Speaker 3: final Olympics, right, like that's the one thing she's announced. Yeah,

203
00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:34,319
Speaker 3: and then in theory, you know, maybe potentially having to

204
00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:36,839
Speaker 3: move to the Pacific Northwest in some form or another.

205
00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:40,600
Speaker 3: It's just I don't know, it was it was I

206
00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:42,120
Speaker 3: definitely had a very WTF.

207
00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:44,480
Speaker 1: She said she wanted to keep playing in the p

208
00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:47,240
Speaker 1: WHL after the Olympics and that one of her big

209
00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:49,040
Speaker 1: goals was to bring a title to Boston.

210
00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:52,240
Speaker 4: It's tough. It's tough. It's tough.

211
00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:54,480
Speaker 1: We could keep talking about this because I think also,

212
00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:57,920
Speaker 1: as producer Alex rightfully points out, being a single entity

213
00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:00,800
Speaker 1: owner for the PWHL, you don't really have to please

214
00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:04,360
Speaker 1: individual owners by letting them keep rosters intact. But you

215
00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:06,880
Speaker 1: also don't have players who are maybe going to be

216
00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:09,160
Speaker 1: angry at the ownership of the team. That acquires them,

217
00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:11,480
Speaker 1: understanding that it's the rules made by the larger league.

218
00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:14,320
Speaker 1: But yeah, anyway, we're gonna do a lot of PW digital,

219
00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:16,320
Speaker 1: so we'll have some guests on to talk us through

220
00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:19,160
Speaker 1: once everything is shaken out and where everybody lands. But

221
00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:21,600
Speaker 1: wanted to get your thoughts on that, particularly because we

222
00:11:21,679 --> 00:11:24,360
Speaker 1: know of your ties to that market and to Hillary.

223
00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:28,400
Speaker 1: All Right, soccer time. NWSL is about to return from

224
00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:30,280
Speaker 1: a short international break, so it's a good time for

225
00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:32,760
Speaker 1: us to kind of consider the league through week ten

226
00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:36,240
Speaker 1: to America, Kansas City Current sitting alone atop the table,

227
00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:38,760
Speaker 1: four points ahead of second place San Diego Wave, then

228
00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:41,199
Speaker 1: the Orlando Pride in Washington Spirit just to point behind

229
00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:44,280
Speaker 1: the Wave. What's your take on the top teams through

230
00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:44,719
Speaker 1: week ten.

231
00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:49,080
Speaker 2: I swear this is not my California native bias, but

232
00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:51,839
Speaker 2: I am endlessly fascinated by what the Wave have been

233
00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:55,160
Speaker 2: doing so far this season. I also don't think I'm

234
00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:59,280
Speaker 2: being dramatic and saying that nobody saw this coming when

235
00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,360
Speaker 2: you consider how their season ended last season. And I'm

236
00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:04,480
Speaker 2: not just talking about what was happening on the pitch,

237
00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:06,240
Speaker 2: because a lot of that was informed by what was

238
00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:09,720
Speaker 2: happening off of it, the shock firing of Casey Stoney,

239
00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:15,080
Speaker 2: the departures of Alex Morgan, Naomi Gara, Jaden Shaw. I

240
00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:17,640
Speaker 2: don't think anyone was expecting them. I mean, I think

241
00:12:17,679 --> 00:12:19,880
Speaker 2: that I won't name them, but there were some people

242
00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:22,280
Speaker 2: who projected this team finishing the season at the bottom

243
00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:25,800
Speaker 2: of the table, which is wild but not totally unexpected

244
00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:27,680
Speaker 2: in the end of USL, where we see teams go

245
00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:30,160
Speaker 2: from bottom to top from one season to the next,

246
00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:32,800
Speaker 2: We've seen it before. But the fact that they have

247
00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:35,120
Speaker 2: a new coach and Yonics Adaval who is not only

248
00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:36,840
Speaker 2: new to the way, but new to the end of USL,

249
00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:40,560
Speaker 2: coming over from Europe, which is usually really really hard

250
00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:43,720
Speaker 2: in terms of an adjustment, pretty much a brand new team.

251
00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:47,960
Speaker 2: I think they only have maybe nine returning faces, and

252
00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:50,000
Speaker 2: only three of those have been with the club from

253
00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,200
Speaker 2: the very beginning. They have international players, they have players

254
00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:57,000
Speaker 2: who are new professionals, they have young players. All of

255
00:12:57,040 --> 00:12:59,800
Speaker 2: the pieces that really will spell we're going to give

256
00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:02,880
Speaker 2: you t to cook. Yeah, but they've been cooking this season.

257
00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:05,960
Speaker 2: I mean so many different goal scorers. They're on like

258
00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:09,440
Speaker 2: a five or six game unbeaten streak. I am so

259
00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:11,760
Speaker 2: impressed by them. And it's not only what they've been

260
00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:14,560
Speaker 2: able to accomplish, it is how it looks on the field.

261
00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:18,120
Speaker 2: They look unified. They are saucy in the midfield. I

262
00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:21,520
Speaker 2: am all in on Kenza Dali, the French international who

263
00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:24,240
Speaker 2: has just commited. She's like a centripaal force when you

264
00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:28,240
Speaker 2: watch them play. Melanie Barsenas, who is still a teenager.

265
00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:30,360
Speaker 2: I think she just went to prom not too long ago.

266
00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:34,000
Speaker 2: She's been developing beautifully within the club. And like I said,

267
00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:37,079
Speaker 2: nobody saw this coming. They've had so many changes and

268
00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:40,280
Speaker 2: I can see them definitely making it into the postseason.

269
00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:44,040
Speaker 2: Everyone else less surprising because it feels a little bit

270
00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:46,400
Speaker 2: like how the table looked around this time last season.

271
00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:48,640
Speaker 2: But the Wave have been the chakra for me so

272
00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:49,480
Speaker 2: far for sure.

273
00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:53,000
Speaker 1: While you're already offering up titles for the episode with

274
00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:55,960
Speaker 1: Saucy in the midfield, which I love, but also teeing

275
00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:58,400
Speaker 1: up the stats for this team that I had written down,

276
00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:00,720
Speaker 1: which you're right. So last year and they finished in

277
00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:04,120
Speaker 1: tenth place with thirteen losses, we're now in second. They're

278
00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:06,960
Speaker 1: second in goals with twenty one, and they have a

279
00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:10,760
Speaker 1: lead leaguing thirteen different goal scorers, with more than half

280
00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:14,880
Speaker 1: the regular season left to play, just unbelievable. Meg. The

281
00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:18,920
Speaker 1: bottom two teams by a lot are the Utah Royals

282
00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:23,680
Speaker 1: and the Chicago Neutral Colored Stars five and four points respectively.

283
00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:25,280
Speaker 1: Any surprises there for.

284
00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:28,360
Speaker 4: You, I don't think so really.

285
00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:31,760
Speaker 3: I mean Utah, I think everybody did have higher expectations

286
00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:32,600
Speaker 3: of like that run.

287
00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:35,920
Speaker 1: Alle sent Nor driven, right like, I thought that her

288
00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:38,880
Speaker 1: Bangers could alone carry a team that wasn't really buil

289
00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:40,520
Speaker 1: for success.

290
00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:42,960
Speaker 4: I think Ali sent Nor and Minazanaka right like.

291
00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:45,120
Speaker 3: I think those were the two players that everybody, especially

292
00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,080
Speaker 3: coming out of She Believes Cup, everybody was very amped

293
00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:51,000
Speaker 3: about the two of them, and then that didn't happen

294
00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:54,440
Speaker 3: for Chicago. I really don't think anything is all that surprising.

295
00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:58,720
Speaker 3: What I've ranted about Chicago a lot, so I don't

296
00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:01,440
Speaker 3: want to like revisit the the same complaints time and

297
00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:05,040
Speaker 3: time again. But it just feels so very unserious. Lauren

298
00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:07,680
Speaker 3: Donaldson may or may not have been a problem, but

299
00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:12,000
Speaker 3: fundamentally that roster build really is one of the main issues.

300
00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:13,800
Speaker 3: Like if they brought in some more pieces, but like

301
00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:16,840
Speaker 3: it just feels like, you know, you have new investors

302
00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:20,400
Speaker 3: come in, they're very focused about a stadium solution.

303
00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:21,520
Speaker 4: Which is great.

304
00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:25,480
Speaker 3: The current you know, news cycle around Chicago is that

305
00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:28,760
Speaker 3: they're now in this equality bill around money for building

306
00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:31,080
Speaker 3: a public stadium, which also isn't even on the table.

307
00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:34,720
Speaker 3: There's no there's no public stadium that's about to get

308
00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:36,720
Speaker 3: built for men's or women's sports.

309
00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:38,600
Speaker 1: Chicago Fire just announced.

310
00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:41,680
Speaker 3: Yes, but that's privately funded, yeah, right, right, public public, yes,

311
00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:43,520
Speaker 3: public money, right, And I think.

312
00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:45,800
Speaker 1: It's the only win they've got, Meg, I'm gonna do.

313
00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:48,120
Speaker 1: I think it's great that they're getting themselves at the

314
00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:51,160
Speaker 1: table and in that conversation if that comes up, and

315
00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:53,320
Speaker 1: it's about the only thing that they have to send

316
00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:55,920
Speaker 1: out a press release about that isn't just here's the

317
00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:57,640
Speaker 1: final of another loss.

318
00:15:57,240 --> 00:15:59,840
Speaker 3: Right, And so I mean, the nice thing about the end,

319
00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:02,560
Speaker 3: as Tamara already mentioned, is that you can have a

320
00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:07,120
Speaker 3: very quick turnaround. But when you have the quotes coming

321
00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:10,760
Speaker 3: from the general manager out of Chicago that have been circulating.

322
00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:14,120
Speaker 3: Shout out to to Leslie from Kalpals who got him

323
00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,800
Speaker 3: on record, who he's very proud about not spending money

324
00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:22,600
Speaker 3: on that roster and for getting money incoming which is

325
00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:27,160
Speaker 3: then not being spent, you just don't see a solution

326
00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:31,320
Speaker 3: coming anytime soon. And like, even if Mallory Swanson, you know,

327
00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:33,880
Speaker 3: post pregnancy, comes back and is the player that we

328
00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:36,400
Speaker 3: all expect her to be, one player alone is not

329
00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:38,400
Speaker 3: going to solve the problems of that team.

330
00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:38,880
Speaker 4: So it is.

331
00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:41,240
Speaker 3: It's disappointing, but it's not surprising.

332
00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:44,320
Speaker 1: It's especially disappointing with Alyssa nay Or.

333
00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:49,720
Speaker 3: Yes, so like listen, I watched her suffer in Boston

334
00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:52,240
Speaker 3: for so long.

335
00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:55,640
Speaker 2: The magnitude of that tragedy. Knowing that she is going

336
00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:57,840
Speaker 2: to end a professional career with the Stars.

337
00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:01,760
Speaker 1: Ah, it pains left out to dry. I know it

338
00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:05,320
Speaker 1: hurts loyalty though it is. It is it is, and

339
00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:08,760
Speaker 1: talk about someone that's good at getting the next generation

340
00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:12,760
Speaker 1: to want more and want better and get through this.

341
00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:15,840
Speaker 1: But she's a better woman than I am. I'll tell

342
00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:18,840
Speaker 1: you that much, Tamor. If you're looking at the middle

343
00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:21,600
Speaker 1: of the pack, which team or couple of teams do

344
00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:23,400
Speaker 1: you think has the best shot to push up into

345
00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:24,119
Speaker 1: the top three.

346
00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:29,040
Speaker 2: I remain intrigued by Racing Louisville, although I do think

347
00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:33,120
Speaker 2: someone needs to check in on their like emotional welfare

348
00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:37,160
Speaker 2: because this deep into the season, we're barely halfway through,

349
00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:40,320
Speaker 2: there've already been two players who have not only gotten

350
00:17:40,359 --> 00:17:45,639
Speaker 2: red cards in games, but had their disciplinary action escalated,

351
00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:48,760
Speaker 2: And for me, I'm trying to not like equate that

352
00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:51,560
Speaker 2: to being a cry for help. I know that Beviannas

353
00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,600
Speaker 2: has this team playing a super aggressive style of football,

354
00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:58,359
Speaker 2: high pressing from top to bottom, but I just wonder

355
00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:01,280
Speaker 2: if something's going on there beyond what we're seeing on

356
00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:03,280
Speaker 2: the field, because what I see on the field outside

357
00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:07,760
Speaker 2: of that does have some promise and probably more momentum

358
00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:09,600
Speaker 2: than I see coming out of this team at this

359
00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:12,840
Speaker 2: point in the season. The way that sav Damelo is

360
00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:16,480
Speaker 2: able to draw foul, she's excellent with her free kick service.

361
00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:19,800
Speaker 2: Kayla Fisher prior to getting the red card, I mean,

362
00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:22,639
Speaker 2: even considering it, I think has had a really interesting

363
00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:24,679
Speaker 2: run of form. When Ari Borges comes back, the other

364
00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:27,000
Speaker 2: player who got that red card, I do think that

365
00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:29,879
Speaker 2: they're putting some interesting pieces together, and I'm going to

366
00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:32,600
Speaker 2: be paying attention. I mean, they tend to not make

367
00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:35,400
Speaker 2: too many moves during these transfer windows, but maybe I'll

368
00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:38,520
Speaker 2: be surprised this summer. So that's one team I'm going

369
00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:42,240
Speaker 2: to be paying attention to. This is probably a little

370
00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:45,120
Speaker 2: bit of California bias, but I'm hoping for better for BFC.

371
00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:49,399
Speaker 2: They just started playing Hannah Biebar who they signed a

372
00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:51,840
Speaker 2: few months ago, but in her first game, I think

373
00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:53,639
Speaker 2: she and this is what I've been told even before

374
00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:55,360
Speaker 2: she started playing with the team, that she was going

375
00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:58,679
Speaker 2: to revitalize that midfield. I think there's probably been a

376
00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:01,440
Speaker 2: little bit too much rotation for them to be able

377
00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:04,840
Speaker 2: to build on any sort of consistency. But I'm going

378
00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:07,720
Speaker 2: to be hoping for them just from like a spiritual perspective.

379
00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:10,359
Speaker 2: I hope that I'm right, But right now, I'm going

380
00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:12,720
Speaker 2: to say Louisville is most intriguing to me, and they

381
00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:15,119
Speaker 2: love to crush people's dreams, so I think the second

382
00:19:15,119 --> 00:19:16,840
Speaker 2: half of the season for them is going to be interesting.

383
00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:19,159
Speaker 1: I love that you're digging into the psyches and the

384
00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:22,159
Speaker 1: spiritual wellbeings of those times to the California girl, I

385
00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:26,359
Speaker 1: appreciate that. Speaking of spiritual wellbeing, we did sort of

386
00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:28,840
Speaker 1: not talk about it on our show, and we should

387
00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:32,200
Speaker 1: have mentioned Kayla Fisher's three match ban for the hair

388
00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:37,119
Speaker 1: poll Meg. We heard Tamara concerned about potentially being a

389
00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:39,399
Speaker 1: cry for help for me, certainly when I see that

390
00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:42,879
Speaker 1: it is so outside the bounds of just I'm frustrated,

391
00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:45,239
Speaker 1: and this is coming from someone that got a lot

392
00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:48,240
Speaker 1: of yellow cards in field hockey. I bumped a lot

393
00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:49,960
Speaker 1: of people. I pushed a lot of people out of

394
00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:51,879
Speaker 1: my way, but it was all in pursuit of the

395
00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:55,080
Speaker 1: next play. When you yank someone and pull them by

396
00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:58,120
Speaker 1: the hair, that is a totally different thing. What did

397
00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:02,280
Speaker 1: you make of that? And it feels sort of I

398
00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:06,840
Speaker 1: don't feel like we've seen something similar in the NWSL. No,

399
00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:11,240
Speaker 1: I think we have, remembering the college gal who like

400
00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:12,159
Speaker 1: lost her mind during that.

401
00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:14,520
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, hair pulling is definitely not as rare,

402
00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:17,440
Speaker 3: but like there have been some stomps that have happened

403
00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:20,879
Speaker 3: in the NWSL, right Like there, there is absolutely you know,

404
00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:25,720
Speaker 3: people get wildly competitive and things happen. But I do think,

405
00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:28,640
Speaker 3: you know, the NWSL has to send a message here

406
00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:30,800
Speaker 3: of saying like this has to go right, and so

407
00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:34,680
Speaker 3: immediately turning it into a three game suspension, yes, good.

408
00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:37,240
Speaker 3: Could it have even been more like send the message

409
00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:41,080
Speaker 3: now and get it cut out right and so there,

410
00:20:41,119 --> 00:20:43,439
Speaker 3: I think there probably could have been a little bit

411
00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:46,200
Speaker 3: more or you know, like really upping the fine generally,

412
00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:49,159
Speaker 3: player finds are really not that high. But I think

413
00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:51,639
Speaker 3: there does have to be a consequence to like really

414
00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:58,400
Speaker 3: keep this out of bout exactly and so but at

415
00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:00,360
Speaker 3: the at the end of the day, like I don't

416
00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:02,400
Speaker 3: know the physicality piece of it.

417
00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:03,920
Speaker 4: I mean from a from a.

418
00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:05,720
Speaker 3: Racing point of view, I think there is a really

419
00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:08,040
Speaker 3: interesting question of just like why they rely so much

420
00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:11,800
Speaker 3: on physicality and because that's not what I ever would

421
00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:15,840
Speaker 3: have associated Beviana's as a player with. That's not something

422
00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:18,760
Speaker 3: that like when I think about watching her with Seattle Rain,

423
00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:22,680
Speaker 3: that comes to mind immediately. And I believe in her

424
00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:24,720
Speaker 3: as a head coach. I think she's, you know, a

425
00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:27,919
Speaker 3: head coach that the end of cl also honestly desperately

426
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:29,160
Speaker 3: needs to succeed to.

427
00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:34,560
Speaker 4: Like prove that path exists for players. But yeah, could

428
00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:34,840
Speaker 4: the n.

429
00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:38,760
Speaker 3: OFSL have sent a much stronger message on that front. Honestly, probably,

430
00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:40,919
Speaker 3: but they they have so much going on.

431
00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,240
Speaker 1: Sarah, I mean, at least we're grateful about the three

432
00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:45,080
Speaker 1: match band is.

433
00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:50,720
Speaker 4: She's been very star of the show today.

434
00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:54,840
Speaker 2: So waits she called her, I was like, maybe she

435
00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:56,440
Speaker 2: meant bro in the gender expansive.

436
00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:58,200
Speaker 4: I mean that's totally true.

437
00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:00,440
Speaker 3: I mean I do actually refer to her as bro

438
00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:03,720
Speaker 3: frequently in this household, so it's totally acceptable.

439
00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:07,920
Speaker 1: My apologies to w a big sibling. Big sibling. There

440
00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:13,120
Speaker 1: goes Tamaragatham FC, winners of the inaugural conkakaf W Champions Cup,

441
00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:15,919
Speaker 1: a tournament dating back to last season. What kind of

442
00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:18,120
Speaker 1: weight are you putting into that win in that tournament

443
00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:21,199
Speaker 1: and also currently in ninth place with twelve points? What

444
00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:23,760
Speaker 1: needs to happen for them to find similar success in

445
00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:25,040
Speaker 1: the league that they play in.

446
00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,600
Speaker 2: So as far as continental tournaments go, this one is

447
00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:31,920
Speaker 2: still very much in its nascent stage. I don't think

448
00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:34,640
Speaker 2: it helped that it happens so close to Champions League,

449
00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:38,480
Speaker 2: which is the biggest continental club tournament that you get.

450
00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:42,560
Speaker 2: I think in terms of the club, they from the

451
00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:45,520
Speaker 2: coach to players have spoken at length about the importance

452
00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:50,119
Speaker 2: of sort of acquiring these sort of continental trophies because

453
00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:51,600
Speaker 2: they want to be a global club, they want to

454
00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:53,439
Speaker 2: be a global brand, So I think in terms of

455
00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:56,320
Speaker 2: that it was a positive for them. I think given

456
00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:58,720
Speaker 2: where they are right now in the NW cell table,

457
00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:01,959
Speaker 2: it's got to be some sort of confidence boost in

458
00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:05,480
Speaker 2: a broader sense. I am not yet going to put

459
00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:09,280
Speaker 2: too much weight into them winning this tournament only because

460
00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:12,119
Speaker 2: it's so new. I mean, Tigress definitely put up a fight.

461
00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,399
Speaker 2: From an atmospheric standpoint. They had a ton of fans

462
00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:18,919
Speaker 2: in the crowd for both games in the semi final

463
00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:21,639
Speaker 2: and the final, which is great and obviously something that

464
00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:24,760
Speaker 2: you want to build on. It was an entertaining game,

465
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,679
Speaker 2: it wasn't I think the on field product in that

466
00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:32,720
Speaker 2: final probably wasn't the best. But I know Estaire had

467
00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:35,840
Speaker 2: been on a bit of a gold route leading up

468
00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:38,679
Speaker 2: to that. She's now definitely in competition for the end

469
00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:42,160
Speaker 2: of your Cell Golden Boot, so I think from individual standpoints,

470
00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:44,399
Speaker 2: it was important for her to get that penalty to

471
00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:48,399
Speaker 2: convert it. Hopefully that'll carry over into league play in

472
00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:50,280
Speaker 2: terms of what they need to do to sort of

473
00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:53,400
Speaker 2: get squarely back into the playoff table or just get

474
00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:55,600
Speaker 2: back to where I know that they believe they're meant

475
00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:59,000
Speaker 2: to be. I think they probably need to be better

476
00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,760
Speaker 2: at making adjustments in games. I mean, es there, she

477
00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:05,120
Speaker 2: is still on a run right now.

478
00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:07,960
Speaker 1: She started off crazy hot despite that little gap.

479
00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:14,280
Speaker 2: Right but I think that they probably need to be

480
00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:17,719
Speaker 2: a little bit more humble about their ability to just

481
00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:21,720
Speaker 2: do their thing and play their style, and that that

482
00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:26,840
Speaker 2: will necessarily translate to success. I think similar to what

483
00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:29,199
Speaker 2: I was saying about AFC and the rotations, I know

484
00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:32,600
Speaker 2: that Wan Carlos Amorros is spoiled for choice when it

485
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:35,960
Speaker 2: comes to Gotham's attacking line between Jase, between Midge Purse,

486
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:39,639
Speaker 2: between us there between oh my god, I'm blinking on

487
00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:42,520
Speaker 2: her name, the really the other saucy one who.

488
00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:47,040
Speaker 4: Wears her soas over. As soon as you said Sleeves,

489
00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:48,440
Speaker 4: I was like, Eli Stevens.

490
00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:51,480
Speaker 1: Yes, thank you, I get Chicago stars who made it

491
00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:52,920
Speaker 1: out okay to celebrate.

492
00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:57,360
Speaker 2: Yes, Gaby Porcillo when she comes back from injury. And

493
00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:00,639
Speaker 2: I appreciate that. You know, based on what the game needs,

494
00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:03,880
Speaker 2: that will determine who makes that starting lineup. But I've

495
00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:06,879
Speaker 2: seen what I think is an emerging partnership between Jason

496
00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:08,760
Speaker 2: Mitche Purse, for example. What does it look like to

497
00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:09,919
Speaker 2: sort of build on that.

498
00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:11,879
Speaker 1: With It's kind of wild for you to say all

499
00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:13,800
Speaker 1: those names and then realize that the team only has

500
00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:17,160
Speaker 1: twelve points. It's like, what ch'all doing something?

501
00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:18,400
Speaker 2: Let's clicking, let's.

502
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,439
Speaker 1: Figure it out. Yeah, Meg, I was listening to a

503
00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:25,320
Speaker 1: touch more and it's always hilarious to me when Rapino

504
00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:30,960
Speaker 1: tries to explain to Sue Bird Soccer, especially cups like this.

505
00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:34,119
Speaker 1: She's like, Okay, so like Europe is like the CONCA

506
00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:36,960
Speaker 1: calf and then the different leagues are like the countries.

507
00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:39,480
Speaker 1: And then and I was listening, I was like, I

508
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:42,199
Speaker 1: know what it is, and I'm still confused. So for

509
00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:46,200
Speaker 1: those who are listening, maybe explain why the NWSL would

510
00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:49,160
Speaker 1: want to be involved in a CONCA Cafe W Champions Cup,

511
00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:51,600
Speaker 1: what it is compared to Europe, and especially for those

512
00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:54,280
Speaker 1: who don't even really understand how Europe works. You don't

513
00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:55,880
Speaker 1: have to get too deep in, but just a top

514
00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:58,400
Speaker 1: level idea of how the NWSL, both in the way

515
00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:02,080
Speaker 1: that they abolished the draft and joined the FIFA International Timeline,

516
00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:04,400
Speaker 1: but also in some of these decisions around the cups

517
00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:06,080
Speaker 1: are trying to become part of the global game.

518
00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:06,520
Speaker 4: Yeah.

519
00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:10,600
Speaker 3: I mean, so NWUSL, right, is a league. There's kind

520
00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:12,600
Speaker 3: of two structures. You have a club structure and an

521
00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:16,800
Speaker 3: international structure. So from a club point of view, everyone

522
00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:21,680
Speaker 3: like all of the leagues then belonged to their federation. Right,

523
00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:26,520
Speaker 3: So NWSL is sanctioned by US Soccer, US soccer belongs

524
00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:31,840
Speaker 3: to CONKA CAF, which is the confederation and represents North

525
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:37,480
Speaker 3: and you know basically like Canada, US, Mexico and Central America.

526
00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:41,280
Speaker 3: So there is this kind of structure that keeps going up.

527
00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:44,520
Speaker 3: Eventually you do hit FIFA. In Europe, they have UEFA,

528
00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:47,400
Speaker 3: which is you know, truly all of Europe and Champions

529
00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:50,000
Speaker 3: League and I think every you know, casual viewer is

530
00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:52,760
Speaker 3: probably familiar with what Champions League looks like in terms

531
00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:55,199
Speaker 3: of all these clubs coming together playing and then you

532
00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:57,440
Speaker 3: get a trophy at the end of it. So why

533
00:26:57,480 --> 00:26:59,879
Speaker 3: this is actually really important for the NWSL is because

534
00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:05,800
Speaker 3: now FIFA are global overlords have decided that there's going

535
00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:10,200
Speaker 3: to be is that there's going to be a Club

536
00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:14,240
Speaker 3: World Cup on the women's side. So what is interesting

537
00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:16,440
Speaker 3: about that is they had announced it and you know,

538
00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:19,520
Speaker 3: we're kind of chugging along with absolutely zero details, and

539
00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:22,480
Speaker 3: then they had to be like, oh, actually wait, we're

540
00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:25,959
Speaker 3: not ready for this entirely, and so they've kind of

541
00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:29,000
Speaker 3: restructured it so it's an every four year thing, just

542
00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:30,800
Speaker 3: like on the men's side. But what's going to happen

543
00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:34,399
Speaker 3: is that there's essentially like a smaller version of it

544
00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:37,880
Speaker 3: where the champion from every confederation for the most part

545
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:41,800
Speaker 3: minus one plays in and then you get a club

546
00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:43,960
Speaker 3: World Champion, and then there's going to be a full

547
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,840
Speaker 3: Club World Cup. So Gotham winning this actually is important

548
00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:49,439
Speaker 3: because it gets them into the smaller version of it,

549
00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:51,520
Speaker 3: and it gets them into the bigger version of it,

550
00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,479
Speaker 3: which isn't going to happen until twenty twenty eight. I

551
00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:57,080
Speaker 3: really hope your listeners are just like, Wow, I love

552
00:27:57,280 --> 00:27:58,120
Speaker 3: governance talk.

553
00:27:58,240 --> 00:27:59,280
Speaker 4: It's so much fun.

554
00:27:59,359 --> 00:28:02,159
Speaker 1: Actually help me because I was slightly confused about the

555
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:07,600
Speaker 1: different World Club Cups Club World Cups, and so the

556
00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:09,680
Speaker 1: idea that the smaller one is happening because the bigger

557
00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:11,359
Speaker 1: one wasn't ready, but the bigger one is still happening,

558
00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:13,359
Speaker 1: that all makes sense now. And so essentially, if you

559
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:16,080
Speaker 1: like watching the US and the World Cup, it's like that,

560
00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:19,040
Speaker 1: except it will be your NWSL team, not mine, because

561
00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:22,360
Speaker 1: I still live for the Chicago Stars, but the one

562
00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:24,240
Speaker 1: that you like might be in it, and then they'll

563
00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:27,440
Speaker 1: play other clubs from around the world and it would

564
00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:30,359
Speaker 1: be awesome. I would love to watch the best NWSL

565
00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:33,639
Speaker 1: against you know, Chelsea and other teams like that. You

566
00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:35,679
Speaker 1: hear about that you know, are great, and then we

567
00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:38,360
Speaker 1: could stop having our subjective conversations, Yeah, which is the

568
00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:40,520
Speaker 1: best league in the world if one of the ends

569
00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:42,960
Speaker 1: up having all the best teams in the finals of

570
00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:43,600
Speaker 1: the You know.

571
00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:45,360
Speaker 3: Though, I will say, what is going to be really

572
00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:47,560
Speaker 3: interesting about this is just in terms of you know,

573
00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:50,440
Speaker 3: one of the biggest conversations on both the men's and

574
00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:53,160
Speaker 3: women's side is player load and the calendar getting more

575
00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:57,120
Speaker 3: and more congested and fitting things in, and so when

576
00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:01,320
Speaker 3: you have these sort of you know, club competitions also

577
00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:05,080
Speaker 3: stacking on top of international competitions, I think there's always

578
00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:07,440
Speaker 3: going to be that cavea of who's in season, who's

579
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:10,680
Speaker 3: out of season, who's in season right, and so like

580
00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:14,360
Speaker 3: Epipe exactly, and so it like, yes, we are going

581
00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:16,560
Speaker 3: to finally be able to maybe say, like oh, okay,

582
00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:19,040
Speaker 3: an nd OFB sale team versus Barcelona with a trophy

583
00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:22,000
Speaker 3: on the line, But at the same time, one.

584
00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:24,320
Speaker 1: Of those seasons, who's healthy, who's healthy.

585
00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:26,680
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's gonna I think there's always going to be

586
00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:27,800
Speaker 3: that level to it as well.

587
00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:30,160
Speaker 1: We'll just have Kathy Engelbert pop on over and make

588
00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:33,560
Speaker 1: a prioritization rule like in the WNBA and force people

589
00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:37,440
Speaker 1: to stick around for whatever she most prioritizes. Tamara, you

590
00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:40,440
Speaker 1: guys did a great episode discussing the Unwell FC League

591
00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,840
Speaker 1: Supporters group that is headed by Call Her Daddy podcast

592
00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:46,760
Speaker 1: host Alex Cooper. Now that the debut of the Unwell

593
00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:50,400
Speaker 1: FC event has happened, any of your own takeaways or

594
00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:52,360
Speaker 1: maybe standout comments that you saw from some of the

595
00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:55,200
Speaker 1: Supporters Group members that you had on the show that

596
00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:55,880
Speaker 1: stand out to you.

597
00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:01,680
Speaker 2: I will say I was pleasantly something a little bit

598
00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:05,600
Speaker 2: more diluted than surprise necessarily by how thoughtful a lot

599
00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:09,320
Speaker 2: of the Supporters Group members were. I think that you

600
00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:12,680
Speaker 2: could probably characterize most supporters groups in the NWSL as

601
00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:16,720
Speaker 2: super super progressive, if not like straight up lefty. So

602
00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:19,560
Speaker 2: for them to say things like listen, I know that

603
00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:21,600
Speaker 2: everyone is out here just trying to make a buck,

604
00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:22,680
Speaker 2: I understand.

605
00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:23,840
Speaker 4: I have no qualms.

606
00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:25,800
Speaker 2: I'm not holding it against Alex Cooper for wanting to

607
00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:27,920
Speaker 2: get involved in the NWSL, because who wouldn't want to

608
00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:30,600
Speaker 2: be involved in the NWSL right now, I wasn't necessarily

609
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:33,840
Speaker 2: expecting to hear them sort of preface their arguments with that,

610
00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:37,080
Speaker 2: and that to me speaks to a real sense of

611
00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:39,760
Speaker 2: thoughtfulness that I think at least people who are involved

612
00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:43,480
Speaker 2: in supporters' groups sort of embrace in the NWSL, which

613
00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:46,320
Speaker 2: is nice and I think it gives me some hope

614
00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:49,479
Speaker 2: about how these sorts of partnerships might work in the future,

615
00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:52,560
Speaker 2: especially if others who are interested to have listened to

616
00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:56,480
Speaker 2: or been following the way things went with Unwell. So

617
00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:59,000
Speaker 2: I think that was probably one of the more surprising

618
00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:01,960
Speaker 2: things that I heard, but it was a resounding Save

619
00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:05,120
Speaker 2: for one person that I spoke to who had ties

620
00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:07,440
Speaker 2: to the club team that he was supporting, he wasn't

621
00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:10,320
Speaker 2: an independent supporters group by any means. He formed the

622
00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:12,640
Speaker 2: group with the husband of one of the founders of AFC.

623
00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:15,520
Speaker 1: But people are.

624
00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:18,520
Speaker 2: Skeptical, and rightfully so. I mean, it's hard to not

625
00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:21,360
Speaker 2: sort of view what happened with Unwell and this sort

626
00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:26,560
Speaker 2: of corporate backed supporters group as like a colonial sort

627
00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:30,080
Speaker 2: of thing where you have these like indigenous actors who

628
00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:32,640
Speaker 2: have been organizing and building things from scratch with very

629
00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:35,440
Speaker 2: little resources. Most of them are volunteers, none of them

630
00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:38,040
Speaker 2: are getting paid to do this, who are now sort

631
00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:40,560
Speaker 2: of being imposed upon by people who have been like, oh,

632
00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:42,960
Speaker 2: look at this way to make money let me bring

633
00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:47,320
Speaker 2: myself and my sort of somewhat knowledge of what's going

634
00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:48,920
Speaker 2: on and just make shit happen.

635
00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:50,480
Speaker 4: Sorry, can I curse?

636
00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:52,000
Speaker 1: That just came out? Absolutely?

637
00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:52,280
Speaker 3: Okay?

638
00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:52,600
Speaker 1: Cool?

639
00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:56,160
Speaker 2: And now there's a question of what happens to the

640
00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:58,960
Speaker 2: people who've been here all along, What does visibility look like,

641
00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:01,400
Speaker 2: what does investment look like, what is partnership with those

642
00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:06,040
Speaker 2: people look like. I will say things have been crickets

643
00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:09,200
Speaker 2: from the Unwell front since that game, And I'm just

644
00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:12,040
Speaker 2: realizing this because you're asking me now, I've barely even

645
00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:15,640
Speaker 2: been thinking about it myself. I will definitely be staying

646
00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:18,920
Speaker 2: tune because the plan is to sort of tour these

647
00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:22,520
Speaker 2: activations around the league, which probably is not going to

648
00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:24,880
Speaker 2: happen until the other side of the summer break. But

649
00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:27,920
Speaker 2: one thing that a supporters group mentioned to me that

650
00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:31,200
Speaker 2: I hadn't really considered is that where Unwell goes is

651
00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:34,240
Speaker 2: also going to be determined by the end of your

652
00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:37,640
Speaker 2: cell club's pre existing partnerships. So, for example, if an

653
00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:40,440
Speaker 2: end of you cl club has already partnered with a

654
00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:44,320
Speaker 2: beverage company, Unwell won't be able to sort of bring

655
00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:46,160
Speaker 2: themselves to that club because there's going to be a

656
00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:48,920
Speaker 2: conflict of interest, So if anyone is trying to sort

657
00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:52,520
Speaker 2: of predict where Unwell might land next, that's an important

658
00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:54,320
Speaker 2: filter to consider.

659
00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:55,360
Speaker 1: A city is one of those.

660
00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:57,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, Angel City is one of those clubs, for example,

661
00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:00,720
Speaker 2: because they partnered with Yoba Mante. I think they have

662
00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:04,520
Speaker 2: a gatorade partnership one with like a local winery, So

663
00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:06,560
Speaker 2: that was one of the more interesting things I learned

664
00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:08,040
Speaker 2: covering that story.

665
00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:12,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, Meg, there's been criticism for things like on WELLFC,

666
00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:15,000
Speaker 1: and I think tamaraw of note in your comparison is

667
00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:18,080
Speaker 1: that whether or not supporters groups are consistently led by

668
00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:20,160
Speaker 1: people of color, which a lot of them are, they

669
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:24,200
Speaker 1: are often led by LGBTQ plus people or other marginalized groups.

670
00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:27,440
Speaker 1: So whether the comparison goes toe to toe or apples

671
00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:31,080
Speaker 1: for apples when it comes to colonials usually being you know,

672
00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:33,480
Speaker 1: white folks going into spaces and trying to plunder them

673
00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:37,080
Speaker 1: for greed reasons, it does apply in terms of like

674
00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:42,040
Speaker 1: power dynamics and majority versus my minority or at least marginalized,

675
00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:46,080
Speaker 1: So I think it's a good analogy. Mega. Aside from UNWELLFC,

676
00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:49,600
Speaker 1: the league has some giant wins like Big valuation numbers

677
00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:52,560
Speaker 1: and new investors coming in. What excites you and what

678
00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:55,840
Speaker 1: concerned you about the NWSL right now? Because I know

679
00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:58,360
Speaker 1: you and I have talked kind off the record sometimes

680
00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:00,960
Speaker 1: about like what's going on, but then also like, oh

681
00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:03,600
Speaker 1: this is good, there's you know, there's a lot to

682
00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:04,160
Speaker 1: look at.

683
00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:06,840
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I think it is. I mean it's always

684
00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:08,920
Speaker 3: a big spag with the NWSL, right I think you

685
00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:10,840
Speaker 3: can point to the valuations, you can point to the

686
00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:13,440
Speaker 3: expansion fees. But I also think that there's now this

687
00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:17,399
Speaker 3: kind of I don't know, like almost doom lingering over

688
00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:20,200
Speaker 3: the NWSL when it comes to expansion, because Jessica Berman

689
00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:22,480
Speaker 3: has gone on the record a few times being like, hey,

690
00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:25,840
Speaker 3: we could be as big number wise as the NFL

691
00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:27,799
Speaker 3: when it comes to teams, and everybody's kind of looking

692
00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:30,520
Speaker 3: at that and being like does this league need to

693
00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:33,840
Speaker 3: be at thirty teams right now? So for every good story,

694
00:34:33,880 --> 00:34:37,759
Speaker 3: there's also this kind of big question mark hanging out

695
00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:42,360
Speaker 3: after it, being like what.

696
00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:42,480
Speaker 4: Where where are you going with this?

697
00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:45,600
Speaker 3: Because it doesn't seem to resemble where earth logic would

698
00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:46,840
Speaker 3: necessarily take you.

699
00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:49,319
Speaker 4: So there's that part of it.

700
00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:52,360
Speaker 3: I think what I'm also watching for from the NWSL

701
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:54,120
Speaker 3: is like, yes, they've announced all the Pride stuff. I

702
00:34:54,160 --> 00:34:56,960
Speaker 3: think the teams are still very into it. But I

703
00:34:56,960 --> 00:35:00,000
Speaker 3: think the nw CL has not yet really figured out

704
00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:03,799
Speaker 3: how it wants to exist in the Trump world right

705
00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:06,080
Speaker 3: at the moment, and so I think there is some

706
00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:09,279
Speaker 3: real cautiousness, and there is you know, I think we've

707
00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:09,920
Speaker 3: been seeing.

708
00:35:09,719 --> 00:35:12,160
Speaker 4: Some quotes about like this isn't DEI and it's.

709
00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:16,560
Speaker 3: You also can't give up on some of the like

710
00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:21,520
Speaker 3: really founding values that the league has has had since

711
00:35:21,560 --> 00:35:26,200
Speaker 3: the beginning, And yeah, that's kind of what I'm watching

712
00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:30,160
Speaker 3: for right now, is just the path that is being charted.

713
00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:34,560
Speaker 3: I have, honestly probably a lot more questions than I

714
00:35:34,640 --> 00:35:37,719
Speaker 3: do sort of feeling confident. I think what has been

715
00:35:37,719 --> 00:35:40,560
Speaker 3: good is watching more kind of like big name partners

716
00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:41,960
Speaker 3: come in the title MLL deal.

717
00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:43,640
Speaker 4: Though I will say the.

718
00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:46,080
Speaker 3: Timing was really funny on that title mull deal, because

719
00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:49,080
Speaker 3: I don't know if anybody else is a dedicated Netflix watcher,

720
00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:51,759
Speaker 3: But over the past like a couple of days, right

721
00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:53,759
Speaker 3: as that deal got announced, the number one show on

722
00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:56,440
Speaker 3: Netflix was about the title Nall Murders in the eighties,

723
00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:58,800
Speaker 3: and I was like, oh, no, one's actually thinking about

724
00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:00,759
Speaker 3: like this in terms of tile all right now, But.

725
00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:03,239
Speaker 1: No, I was thinking about how it was like tail

726
00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:06,360
Speaker 1: and all unwell, like our sponsorships are really starting to

727
00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:07,680
Speaker 1: reflect how we're all feeling right now.

728
00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:10,680
Speaker 3: Yeah, I know it was like I am an advil Gurley,

729
00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:14,040
Speaker 3: but I can honestly I like the Painkiller front like

730
00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:20,239
Speaker 3: sure it's great, yeah, so's there's good, there's bad. I

731
00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:23,640
Speaker 3: think you know my question for the NB so honestly,

732
00:36:24,239 --> 00:36:27,520
Speaker 3: even you know post Lisa Baird, Jessica Berman coming in,

733
00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:30,520
Speaker 3: after you get through the crisis, right, what comes next?

734
00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:33,920
Speaker 3: And the business side has looked really really strong and

735
00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:38,480
Speaker 3: then departures from the front office. Tatiana, who ran the

736
00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:40,840
Speaker 3: sporting side, is going to leave. Julie Hadden was a

737
00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:43,960
Speaker 3: name that I don't think anyone expected to be departing

738
00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:47,839
Speaker 3: as chief commercial officer, and that was really I think

739
00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:50,960
Speaker 3: someone that if you interacted with her, you trusted her

740
00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:52,520
Speaker 3: and her sort of vision.

741
00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:55,320
Speaker 1: And she was in the ownership group of the Stars

742
00:36:55,320 --> 00:36:58,759
Speaker 1: with me and then left and smartly got out of

743
00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:00,880
Speaker 1: it before the sale and everything else happened so that

744
00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:03,319
Speaker 1: she could divest and go to the league. And had

745
00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:05,760
Speaker 1: worked with the NFL in some really high level places before,

746
00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:07,040
Speaker 1: so it felt like sort of she was going to

747
00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:08,840
Speaker 1: be there for a while. I was surprised by that

748
00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:09,279
Speaker 1: as well.

749
00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:13,000
Speaker 3: Right, So there's just a few things, and like I

750
00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:16,080
Speaker 3: think Julie Hadden and I would frequently kind of if

751
00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:18,480
Speaker 3: there is one area where I think we would have

752
00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:21,880
Speaker 3: some really interesting conversations, is just you know, using NFL

753
00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:25,439
Speaker 3: as an example for the NWSL, because I think there's

754
00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:29,120
Speaker 3: definitely some instructive stuff for the NWSL to take. Like

755
00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:32,840
Speaker 3: the NFL is the dominant professional sports league in America,

756
00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:34,520
Speaker 3: you have to be looking at it in what it's

757
00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:36,720
Speaker 3: doing in order to learn things from.

758
00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:38,960
Speaker 1: It, right, And you can take pieces without embracing the.

759
00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:40,480
Speaker 4: Whole correct, right.

760
00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:44,799
Speaker 3: And so the sort of story that I've been kind

761
00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:46,719
Speaker 3: of keeping in the back of my head is the

762
00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:53,000
Speaker 3: nflification of the NWSL, right, and how that seems to

763
00:37:53,040 --> 00:37:55,680
Speaker 3: be the path that they really want to follow, whereas

764
00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:59,839
Speaker 3: you have maybe this alternate kind of like value slash,

765
00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:03,680
Speaker 3: you know, example of the WNBA, and how the WNBA

766
00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:06,200
Speaker 3: has like truly you know, gone mainstream in a way

767
00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:08,320
Speaker 3: that the end of Yousell still has yet to achieve,

768
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:13,200
Speaker 3: and why they're kind of healing I would say right

769
00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:17,920
Speaker 3: towards the end of the NFL rather than left towards

770
00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:18,640
Speaker 3: the WNBA.

771
00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:21,120
Speaker 1: Well, and it's interesting too, and I've had some really

772
00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:24,120
Speaker 1: great conversations with Jessica Berman. I know that she has

773
00:38:24,160 --> 00:38:27,120
Speaker 1: her critics as well, but she came from men's sports.

774
00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:30,120
Speaker 1: A lot of her reference points and mentors are in

775
00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:32,600
Speaker 1: men's sports. And there are folks who have alleged, and

776
00:38:32,640 --> 00:38:35,200
Speaker 1: I have no idea if they have any factual evidence

777
00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:37,239
Speaker 1: behind this, but that they believe she's working toward a

778
00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:39,959
Speaker 1: return to a high profile job in men's sports. Everyone

779
00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:42,319
Speaker 1: thinks she's angling for the NHL for whatever reason. That's

780
00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:44,600
Speaker 1: just what's out there. I have never had a conversation

781
00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:46,520
Speaker 1: with her about that. And then you look at some

782
00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:50,000
Speaker 1: of the really powerful emerging leaders in women's sport, like

783
00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:54,479
Speaker 1: Jess Smith from the Valkyries. Totally when interviewed at every turn,

784
00:38:54,520 --> 00:38:56,240
Speaker 1: when they say you're going to be running the NFL,

785
00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:58,480
Speaker 1: she says, I don't want to. Yes, I want to

786
00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:00,360
Speaker 1: run women's sports. I want to do that in the

787
00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:03,640
Speaker 1: women's space. And again, I don't think anyone's asked jess

788
00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:05,960
Speaker 1: Berman that directly, so I don't want to mischaracterize anything

789
00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:08,040
Speaker 1: but it is interesting to your point, which ones are

790
00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:11,040
Speaker 1: veering toward. How do we do this differently while learning

791
00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:14,080
Speaker 1: from existing leagues versus how do we compare to the

792
00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:17,040
Speaker 1: things that make the most money, even though they're at

793
00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:20,319
Speaker 1: times at odds with the very center of who we

794
00:39:20,360 --> 00:39:22,279
Speaker 1: are and what we stand for, especially what our fans

795
00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:24,680
Speaker 1: stand for. For those who missed it, by the way,

796
00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:28,320
Speaker 1: the quote that Meg was referring to, jess Coberman and

797
00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:30,720
Speaker 1: the NASCL commissioner told Forbes quote, if you're a business

798
00:39:30,719 --> 00:39:33,600
Speaker 1: person and you look at sports investment as an asset class,

799
00:39:33,719 --> 00:39:35,480
Speaker 1: I do not actually see a world where it could

800
00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:39,240
Speaker 1: be justifiably viewed through the lens of DEI and social cause.

801
00:39:39,520 --> 00:39:41,719
Speaker 1: It is the same fundamental business as the men's leagues,

802
00:39:41,719 --> 00:39:44,320
Speaker 1: who have achieved incredible growth via the same exact investments

803
00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:46,440
Speaker 1: and revenue streams that we've already begun to tap and

804
00:39:46,480 --> 00:39:48,319
Speaker 1: in many ways remain untapped. And I think that's why

805
00:39:48,360 --> 00:39:51,040
Speaker 1: you're seeing the valuations continue to be validated. End quote.

806
00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:53,799
Speaker 1: Now that might be a message to investors that even

807
00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:56,200
Speaker 1: during the time of Trump, this is a good investment

808
00:39:56,400 --> 00:39:59,480
Speaker 1: because we don't rely on social issues. We are a

809
00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:01,719
Speaker 1: league that is independent of that and even if we're

810
00:40:01,719 --> 00:40:04,360
Speaker 1: being criticized or held back by the powers that be,

811
00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:08,120
Speaker 1: we'll still be fine. That's probably best, most generous version

812
00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:10,280
Speaker 1: of that. The other version is why are we running

813
00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:13,120
Speaker 1: away from the thing that has often been what drives

814
00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:17,239
Speaker 1: interest and support for women's sports. We'll have to have

815
00:40:17,239 --> 00:40:20,160
Speaker 1: that conversation another time, because we're running out of time tomorrow.

816
00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:21,880
Speaker 1: Before I we'll let you go, though I wanted to

817
00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:23,840
Speaker 1: ask the same thing of you. What are you excited

818
00:40:23,880 --> 00:40:25,240
Speaker 1: about and what has you concerned?

819
00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:29,920
Speaker 2: I'm excited about the increased globalization of the NWSL. I

820
00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:33,360
Speaker 2: think once teams were given more space to bring in

821
00:40:33,440 --> 00:40:36,640
Speaker 2: players from outside the US, the game got a lot

822
00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:39,279
Speaker 2: more fun because now you have different game styles, you

823
00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:43,200
Speaker 2: have different objectives, especially on the player side, but even

824
00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:45,719
Speaker 2: I mean it's not as new to see this on

825
00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:48,520
Speaker 2: the manager side, but I think that when we get

826
00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:51,920
Speaker 2: more players from Asia, from Europe, from Africa, from South America,

827
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:54,719
Speaker 2: from the Caribbean, the game just gets richer because it

828
00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:58,200
Speaker 2: was always meant to be played in this sort of globalized,

829
00:40:58,560 --> 00:41:03,560
Speaker 2: diverse way. My concern is to sort of pick up

830
00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:05,560
Speaker 2: from where the two of you left off in terms

831
00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:08,080
Speaker 2: of investment and who is paying attention to the end

832
00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:11,239
Speaker 2: of your cell, who's interested in getting involved. You know,

833
00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:14,360
Speaker 2: we're not going to be under a Trump administration forever,

834
00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:18,120
Speaker 2: and I just have questions about I mean, God willing

835
00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:24,160
Speaker 2: everything right, knock on all the woods, but I am

836
00:41:24,280 --> 00:41:27,080
Speaker 2: concerned about the people who are getting involved right now

837
00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:28,680
Speaker 2: what that's going to look like in the long run.

838
00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:33,960
Speaker 2: I think that there is a very understandable sensitivity toward

839
00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:36,680
Speaker 2: any time that the end of USL is mentioned in

840
00:41:36,760 --> 00:41:41,640
Speaker 2: context or comparison to any sort of men's sport. And

841
00:41:41,719 --> 00:41:44,120
Speaker 2: I think right now feels very much like an inflection

842
00:41:44,239 --> 00:41:47,040
Speaker 2: point where we're going to see those divergences between people

843
00:41:47,120 --> 00:41:50,080
Speaker 2: who are involved in the Indigo cell because they want

844
00:41:50,080 --> 00:41:52,160
Speaker 2: to work in women's sports and those who are drawn

845
00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:55,360
Speaker 2: to the power or even the stepping stone that this

846
00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:57,400
Speaker 2: might provide to get back into men's sports at a

847
00:41:57,480 --> 00:42:00,440
Speaker 2: higher level. I think we're going to get to a

848
00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:03,440
Speaker 2: point where we won't be able to ignore who's choosing

849
00:42:03,480 --> 00:42:05,760
Speaker 2: which path, which I think is a good thing, because

850
00:42:06,120 --> 00:42:07,920
Speaker 2: you want to know what you're signing up for, and

851
00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:10,920
Speaker 2: if you have an owner, if you have a GM,

852
00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:12,879
Speaker 2: if you have a coach who is just viewing this

853
00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:16,799
Speaker 2: as this sort of self contained stepping stone for them professionally.

854
00:42:16,880 --> 00:42:18,719
Speaker 2: It's going to become clear because I think we're going

855
00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:21,080
Speaker 2: to see that reflected in the table, We're going to

856
00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:23,080
Speaker 2: see that reflected in investment. We're going to see that

857
00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:26,239
Speaker 2: reflected into the success of these teams, which of course

858
00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:28,880
Speaker 2: is going to lead to revenue down the line. And

859
00:42:28,960 --> 00:42:30,680
Speaker 2: I think that's a good thing, because I'd rather know

860
00:42:30,719 --> 00:42:33,160
Speaker 2: what people are about from jump rather than having to

861
00:42:33,200 --> 00:42:35,279
Speaker 2: find out the hard way. So it's a concern, but

862
00:42:35,719 --> 00:42:37,520
Speaker 2: refreshing kind of I think.

863
00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:40,279
Speaker 1: So my concern is the same as yours, and I

864
00:42:40,280 --> 00:42:43,000
Speaker 1: think it also ends up rolling out to decision making

865
00:42:43,040 --> 00:42:45,160
Speaker 1: down the line if you end up getting too many

866
00:42:45,160 --> 00:42:47,400
Speaker 1: people in there that are about either the stepping stone

867
00:42:47,480 --> 00:42:49,719
Speaker 1: or just about not quite having the money to be

868
00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:51,600
Speaker 1: a pro men's owner, but having the money to be

869
00:42:51,640 --> 00:42:53,759
Speaker 1: in the women's game, and then having their morals and

870
00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:56,560
Speaker 1: ideas and principles reflected in that team, and the way

871
00:42:56,600 --> 00:42:59,200
Speaker 1: it affects the league. I think the growing pains are

872
00:42:59,200 --> 00:43:01,759
Speaker 1: the thing that concerns me most. We want investment, we

873
00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:04,040
Speaker 1: want women to get paid, we want the league to

874
00:43:04,080 --> 00:43:07,719
Speaker 1: be successful, and we want our cake and eat it too.

875
00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:09,399
Speaker 1: And have it still be a league that we feel

876
00:43:09,440 --> 00:43:13,120
Speaker 1: aligned with and represents us in our values. And that's hard.

877
00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:17,560
Speaker 1: There's just not a lot of cool rich people. They're honest,

878
00:43:17,719 --> 00:43:18,640
Speaker 1: good rich people.

879
00:43:18,800 --> 00:43:19,839
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's what I cool.

880
00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:24,000
Speaker 1: Good, Yeah, kind, well meaning. The people who become billionaires

881
00:43:24,040 --> 00:43:25,960
Speaker 1: become them for a reason. There's like a couple that

882
00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:28,000
Speaker 1: are probably okay, and the rest of them like weren't

883
00:43:28,040 --> 00:43:31,040
Speaker 1: cool with many millions, why you have to ask that question,

884
00:43:31,120 --> 00:43:32,920
Speaker 1: why did you need more than that? And how are

885
00:43:32,960 --> 00:43:34,600
Speaker 1: you ever going to reconcile that with the kind of

886
00:43:34,680 --> 00:43:36,799
Speaker 1: things that this league and women's sports kind of stand for.

887
00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:40,360
Speaker 3: Yeah, I do think it is really interesting. Just I

888
00:43:40,360 --> 00:43:42,759
Speaker 3: think just the the end of you cell in general, right,

889
00:43:42,800 --> 00:43:46,400
Speaker 3: and supporters in general, do have this true desire to

890
00:43:46,760 --> 00:43:50,040
Speaker 3: want end of you sell owners to be you know,

891
00:43:50,320 --> 00:43:54,280
Speaker 3: value aligned, sort of morally good, and that those days

892
00:43:54,360 --> 00:43:56,960
Speaker 3: were never present in the league, right, Like, that's the

893
00:43:57,040 --> 00:43:59,040
Speaker 3: part of the problem, is we the end of your

894
00:43:59,080 --> 00:44:01,719
Speaker 3: cell never had and then I think there was that

895
00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:06,759
Speaker 3: kind of over correction and now as the money flows in, right,

896
00:44:06,920 --> 00:44:10,080
Speaker 3: it's just it's not possible, and so there has to

897
00:44:10,080 --> 00:44:13,120
Speaker 3: be a line of a you know, reading owners like

898
00:44:13,160 --> 00:44:15,600
Speaker 3: a Michelle Kang right in good faith because I do

899
00:44:15,680 --> 00:44:19,520
Speaker 3: think based on every interaction, Yes, she is rich, she

900
00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:22,080
Speaker 3: has a lot of money. She is so many gruithless

901
00:44:23,480 --> 00:44:26,839
Speaker 3: like great fashion right, like she is ruthless. I think

902
00:44:26,880 --> 00:44:31,760
Speaker 3: she is good, well intentioned, but like not above critique, right,

903
00:44:31,800 --> 00:44:34,040
Speaker 3: and like she's not going to get everything right. She's

904
00:44:34,080 --> 00:44:36,560
Speaker 3: not going to do stuff that every fan agrees with

905
00:44:37,160 --> 00:44:39,400
Speaker 3: all of the time. And so you like you just

906
00:44:39,440 --> 00:44:41,960
Speaker 3: have to have a whole bunch of things be true

907
00:44:42,080 --> 00:44:45,240
Speaker 3: at the same time, and that when it comes to ownership,

908
00:44:45,239 --> 00:44:47,400
Speaker 3: it's just really it's really hard to grapple with.

909
00:44:47,960 --> 00:44:51,759
Speaker 1: And I try to keep myself always full of questions

910
00:44:51,840 --> 00:44:55,319
Speaker 1: instead of just definitive feelings, because I guarantee that some

911
00:44:55,400 --> 00:44:57,320
Speaker 1: of these folks would say, if you came into a

912
00:44:57,400 --> 00:44:59,360
Speaker 1: room and now you gave me five hours to explain

913
00:44:59,400 --> 00:45:01,319
Speaker 1: to you, why can't be exactly what you want all

914
00:45:01,320 --> 00:45:04,360
Speaker 1: the time and also get the money and the players

915
00:45:04,400 --> 00:45:07,239
Speaker 1: and the stadium and the things that you want, you

916
00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:09,960
Speaker 1: might understand it a little more. That's not a release

917
00:45:10,040 --> 00:45:12,840
Speaker 1: to be a terrible person and make terrible things. But

918
00:45:13,640 --> 00:45:16,120
Speaker 1: there is that balance of like sometimes the people that

919
00:45:16,160 --> 00:45:18,239
Speaker 1: are successful, they do have to have a give and

920
00:45:18,239 --> 00:45:20,440
Speaker 1: take with stuff that those of us who don't want

921
00:45:20,440 --> 00:45:22,400
Speaker 1: to be put in those positions and making those decisions

922
00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:25,759
Speaker 1: would be unwilling to make. And you know, oh my god,

923
00:45:25,760 --> 00:45:27,200
Speaker 1: there's so much more I want to talk about, because

924
00:45:27,239 --> 00:45:29,200
Speaker 1: now you brought up the fact that Michelle Kank's coach

925
00:45:29,239 --> 00:45:31,080
Speaker 1: is going to a different Michelle Kank King and we

926
00:45:31,160 --> 00:45:32,560
Speaker 1: never got to talk about that, and we never got

927
00:45:32,560 --> 00:45:34,879
Speaker 1: to talk about whether Emma Hayes has a particular ie

928
00:45:34,920 --> 00:45:36,960
Speaker 1: for folks that are playing in European leagues instead of

929
00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:39,200
Speaker 1: American and that's why she's playing them a little bit more.

930
00:45:39,239 --> 00:45:41,920
Speaker 1: But we'll have to have you back, so thank you

931
00:45:41,960 --> 00:45:43,799
Speaker 1: so much for the time. I always love catching up

932
00:45:43,800 --> 00:45:46,280
Speaker 1: with both of you. Everybody, of course already is listening

933
00:45:46,280 --> 00:45:48,000
Speaker 1: to Full Time with Meg Glenham, but if they aren't,

934
00:45:48,040 --> 00:45:50,000
Speaker 1: what the hell are you doing? You could be listening

935
00:45:50,000 --> 00:45:52,200
Speaker 1: to this once a week and sometimes more, depending on

936
00:45:52,239 --> 00:45:55,240
Speaker 1: if you listen to the other elements of the podcast

937
00:45:55,320 --> 00:45:57,160
Speaker 1: that come out every Monday, which I always listen to.

938
00:45:57,920 --> 00:46:00,840
Speaker 1: But yeah, thank you so much for coming out, Thanks

939
00:46:00,880 --> 00:46:04,920
Speaker 1: for having us. We got to take another break when

940
00:46:04,920 --> 00:46:08,000
Speaker 1: we come back. We take credit for the WNBA's newest viewer,

941
00:46:08,280 --> 00:46:17,920
Speaker 1: stick around, Welcome back, slicas. We love that you're listening,

942
00:46:17,960 --> 00:46:19,200
Speaker 1: but we want you to get in the game every

943
00:46:19,239 --> 00:46:21,520
Speaker 1: day too, So here's our good game play of the day.

944
00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:25,240
Speaker 1: Listen to Wednesday's episode of Full Time with Meglenahan called

945
00:46:25,440 --> 00:46:28,760
Speaker 1: is Michelle Kang's multi club ownership good for women's soccer?

946
00:46:29,440 --> 00:46:31,320
Speaker 1: As you could tell, there was so much I wanted

947
00:46:31,320 --> 00:46:33,520
Speaker 1: to talk to Megan Tamaherr about, and as I mentioned,

948
00:46:33,560 --> 00:46:36,320
Speaker 1: the news that the Washington Spirits head coach Jonathan Heraldaz

949
00:46:36,400 --> 00:46:39,120
Speaker 1: is headed to another of Michelle Kank's teams, ohel Leon

950
00:46:39,640 --> 00:46:41,640
Speaker 1: was one of those things I wanted to talk about.

951
00:46:41,960 --> 00:46:44,120
Speaker 1: So I guess instead of listening to me ask Megan

952
00:46:44,160 --> 00:46:46,440
Speaker 1: Tamayor about it, go listen to them discuss it on

953
00:46:46,480 --> 00:46:49,040
Speaker 1: their pod. Instead. We'll link to that episode in the

954
00:46:49,040 --> 00:46:51,520
Speaker 1: show notes. And we always love to hear from you,

955
00:46:51,560 --> 00:46:54,520
Speaker 1: so hit us up on email good game at wondermedianetwork

956
00:46:54,560 --> 00:46:56,960
Speaker 1: dot com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven

957
00:46:57,040 --> 00:47:00,839
Speaker 1: two two oh four fifty seventy, and don't forget to subscribe,

958
00:47:01,000 --> 00:47:03,640
Speaker 1: rate and review, y'all. It's real easy. Just take it

959
00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:06,839
Speaker 1: from these slices who didn't forget and who left us

960
00:47:06,880 --> 00:47:11,440
Speaker 1: five stars. Jay Bing five one two wrote, quote nailing it.

961
00:47:11,640 --> 00:47:13,279
Speaker 1: I've been a fan of Sarah's work for a long

962
00:47:13,320 --> 00:47:16,120
Speaker 1: time and was psyched to see this pod. This team's

963
00:47:16,160 --> 00:47:19,240
Speaker 1: attention to detail and intersectional lens make this an essential

964
00:47:19,280 --> 00:47:22,120
Speaker 1: and fun listen for any women's sports fan. Thank you

965
00:47:23,360 --> 00:47:26,960
Speaker 1: or l Robinson ten thirty, who said, quote my favorite

966
00:47:26,960 --> 00:47:29,920
Speaker 1: sports show. I've listened to many podcasts about my favorite

967
00:47:29,920 --> 00:47:31,880
Speaker 1: sports teams over the years, but this one does an

968
00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:34,399
Speaker 1: amazing job at pulling me into leagues I'm not even

969
00:47:34,400 --> 00:47:37,319
Speaker 1: familiar with. I've been a big NWSL fan, but this

970
00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:40,520
Speaker 1: year I've enjoyed watching the p WHL and look forward

971
00:47:40,560 --> 00:47:44,759
Speaker 1: to watching my first season of the WNBA. End quote. Ah,

972
00:47:45,440 --> 00:47:49,120
Speaker 1: we love a WNBA virgin. Enjoy the ride, El Robinson,

973
00:47:49,440 --> 00:47:52,040
Speaker 1: and thanks to both of you for writing in. Now

974
00:47:52,040 --> 00:47:54,600
Speaker 1: it's your turn slices. If you haven't done it yet,

975
00:47:54,960 --> 00:47:59,200
Speaker 1: come on rate and review. Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow.

976
00:47:59,520 --> 00:48:02,959
Speaker 1: Good game, Good game, Tamara, You rich people that aren't

977
00:48:03,000 --> 00:48:07,560
Speaker 1: cool or kind? Good Game with Sarah Spain is an

978
00:48:07,560 --> 00:48:10,680
Speaker 1: iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports

979
00:48:10,680 --> 00:48:13,480
Speaker 1: and Entertainment. You could find us on the iHeartRadio app,

980
00:48:13,520 --> 00:48:16,960
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by

981
00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:20,840
Speaker 1: Wonder Media Network. Our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones.

982
00:48:21,120 --> 00:48:24,880
Speaker 1: Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan

983
00:48:24,960 --> 00:48:28,600
Speaker 1: and Emily Rutterer. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez,

984
00:48:28,600 --> 00:48:32,000
Speaker 1: Grace Lynch, and Gianna Palmer. Our associate producer is Lucy

985
00:48:32,080 --> 00:48:34,400
Speaker 1: Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain