WEBVTT - The Greatest Show on Dirt with Jessica Mendoza 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:02.480 Welcome to good game with Sarah Spain. We're much like 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:05.560 Ottawa charge goalie Gwyneth Phillips. We would be willing to 0:00:05.559 --> 0:00:08.680 commit arson for our team. It's Thursday, May twenty ninth, 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:10.840 and on today's show, we'll be chatting with softball legend 0:00:10.920 --> 0:00:14.200 Jessica Mendoza about this weekend's College World Series. We'll get 0:00:14.240 --> 0:00:18.120 her favorites, potential upsets, and the scene out in Oklahoma City, 0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:21.360 plus the upcoming athletes, unlimited softball season. 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:24.759 And her ka hot take on softball at the LA Olympics. 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:28.240 And WNBA players are fast to the record books, French 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:31.680 open organizers keep doing gender equity wrong, and the sixth 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:34.760 grade losses that still sting. It's all coming up right 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:40.839 after this welcome back slices. Here's what you need to 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:45.760 know today. Let's start with the WNBA. On Tuesday, the 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:48.400 league announced that it could not substantiate a report of 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:51.400 racist fan behavior at a game between the Indiana Fever 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:54.720 and Chicago Sky earlier this month. Following that game, which 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:57.440 was played at Indiana's Gainbridge Field House, the league said 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:01.040 it was looking into reports of quote unquote hateful comments. 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:03.760 In a statement Tuesday, the league said quote based on 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:07.480 information gathered to date, including from relevant fans, team and 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:10.000 arena staff, as well as audio and video review of 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:13.200 the game, we have not substantiated it. The WNBA is 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:16.360 committed to fostering a safe and inclusive environment for everyone 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:18.960 and will continue to be vigilant in enforcing our fan 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:20.640 code of Conduct end quote. 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:22.480 Both teams involved release. 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:24.880 Statements thanking the league for taking the matter seriously and 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:27.160 investigating it more WNBA. 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:28.600 There are two games tonight. 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:31.240 First, the four and oh New York Liberty hosts the 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:34.360 two and two Golden State Valkyries. That game tips off 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:37.920 at seven pm Eastern, Then at eight pm, the O 0:01:38.319 --> 0:01:42.200 and four Chicago Sky and the one in four Dallas 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:45.680 Wings matchup. Rookie Paige Beckers is fresh off her first 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:48.200 win as a pro. She scored a season best twenty 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:50.280 one points in the Wings one O nine eighty seven 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:53.320 victory in Connecticut on Tuesday night. I love that she 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:55.600 got that first dub back in the Nutmeg State where 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:59.000 she ascended to greatness at Yukon some friendly fans there 0:01:59.000 --> 0:02:00.960 to see her do it. Beckers also made a little 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:03.600 history in that win. Per ESPN, she's the first player 0:02:03.600 --> 0:02:06.560 in WNBA history to record at least sixty points and 0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:10.160 thirty assist in the first five games of a career. Also, 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:12.400 did y'all hear Diana Tarassi on a podcast the other 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:14.520 day saying she is certain that Beckers will end up 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:17.040 being the best player in league history when all is. 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:17.640 Said and done. 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:22.200 Not a bad endorsement for Page Beckers to get sky forward. 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:25.400 Angel Reese also celebrating a little record breaking herself. In 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:27.600 a loss to the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday night, the 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:30.800 sophomore became the fastest player in WNBA history to record 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:34.399 at least five hundred plus points and five hundred plus rebounds, 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:37.280 doing so in just thirty eight games. In that same 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:40.320 game Tuesday night, the Mercuries, Alyssa Thomas became just the 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:43.120 third player in w history with fifteen or more assists 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:46.399 in multiple games. She's in rare air with legendary point 0:02:46.400 --> 0:02:49.639 guards t Schapenicero and Courtney Van der Sloot, and as 0:02:49.639 --> 0:02:53.800 a forward, which is wild to softball. The College World 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:56.119 Series gets underway today with the eight winners of last 0:02:56.120 --> 0:02:59.440 weekend Super Regionals converging at Devon Park in Oklahoma City 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:02.080 to compete for the NCAA title. We'll link to the 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:04.280 full schedule and bracket in the show notes, and we'll 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:06.200 get into the nuts and bolts of the Greatest Show 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:09.400 on Dirt later in the show with Jessica Mendoza to 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:13.760 tennis and the ongoing French Open, but off the court stuff. 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:17.880 On Tuesday, Tunisian player On Shabor criticized tournament organizers for 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:21.720 yet again prioritizing men's matches for the late evening slot 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:25.080 on the tournament's marquee court. During the first four days 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:28.160 of play, men's matches have filled that slot, which requires 0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:32.880 a separate night ticket, all four times per ESPN since 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:35.640 the French Open introduced a night session in twenty twenty two, 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:38.360 just two of the thirty three matches played in that 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:41.640 prime slot have been women's singles. On's also called out 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:44.360 French organizers last year, and after her first round loss 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:46.640 in this year's tournament, she spoke out on the issue again. 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:47.480 Take a listen. 0:03:48.120 --> 0:03:51.680 It's a bit ironic. You know, they don't show women's sports, 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:55.880 They don't show women's tennis. And then they asked a question, Yeah, 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:58.440 but mostly they watch men. Of course they watch men 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:02.320 more because you show men mores. So everything goes together. 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:06.640 Exactly It's the same damn argument we have in every 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:10.320 sport at every level. If you give women no resources, 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:14.040 no facilities, no marketing, no coverage, and no attention, how 0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:16.640 can they possibly match the interest of the men who 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:19.880 were given all of those things? In space two of 0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:25.520 thirty three matches French Open bullshit. Oh sorry, Marred finally 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:28.080 got to shout out some hockey folks. First, we're loving 0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:30.680 the sallies from the Walter Cup champs the Minnesota Frost, 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:33.680 including dogs drinking out of the cup and bringing the 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:35.880 cup onto the court to celebrate it at the Minnesota 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:38.200 Lynx game on Tuesday night, a game, by the way, 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:40.480 that also saw the Links hosting the US women's national 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:42.279 soccer team, who are in town for a friendly in 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:46.679 Minnesota this weekend. Also shout out Ottawa charge goalie Gwyneth Phillips, 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:49.240 who was named the twenty twenty five Alana Claus Playoff 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:52.880 MVP despite her team coming up short. It's really impressive 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:55.360 and all of her teammates stayed on the ice after 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:58.400 their heartbreaking loss to cheer her on and support her 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:01.919 MVP win. Repl a headline about her team waiting for 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:04.919 her award and wrote quote, I would commit Arson for 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:09.920 this team. I'm obsessed, all. 0:05:09.880 --> 0:05:10.480 Right, Slicis. 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:14.440 Today we debut a new segment that is tentatively called 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:16.719 Gimme a Minute. It's a working title, but we're willing 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:19.000 to take any suggestions that you might have. This is 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:21.120 where we're going to tee up a topic in women's sports, 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:24.680 set a timer, and vent because sometimes we got to 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:26.839 say a little more than the need to know will allow. 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:30.120 Today we're talking Caitlin Clark injury takes. 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:30.640 Now. 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:32.560 We told you yesterday she's out for a couple weeks 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:34.400 with a quad strain, which is of course a real 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:37.240 bomber for Clark and the Fever and the w fans 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:40.240 and the league. She is obviously a massive draw and 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:42.880 already get in prices are dropping for games she's going 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:44.880 to miss, like the Sky Fever matchup at the United 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:48.120 Center coming up on June seventh. It would be ridiculous 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:51.719 to deny her impact on viewership, attendance, and awareness. But 0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:54.080 also there's no need to report on the injury as 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:56.720 a sort of sky is falling situation for the WNBA, 0:05:57.440 --> 0:05:58.000 which some. 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:01.160 Are wrote USA Today's C Brennan quote. 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:04.000 I can personally confirm the pronounced change and interest in 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:06.640 Fever games without Clark. A week ago, I bought four 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:09.000 tickets on Stop up to take my sports playing nieces 0:06:09.000 --> 0:06:11.720 to the Fever Washington Mystics game Wednesday night in Baltimore. 0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:14.360 Tickets in the same row are now going for less 0:06:14.360 --> 0:06:16.920 than half of what I paid. I can only imagine 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:19.240 what they will cost by game time. Perhaps they'll be 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:22.000 giving them away. And yes, we are still going to 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:22.440 the game. 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:23.400 End quote. 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:25.760 Brennan also reached out to the league several times for 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:29.200 comment on Clark's injury and its impact. Writing quote, one 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:31.600 would think that the league might acknowledge the moment, but 0:06:31.680 --> 0:06:34.720 so far no. Asked three times for a comment on 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:36.680 Clark's injury and what it meant to the league, a 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:38.560 WNBA spokesman never replied. 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:39.400 End quote. 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:43.280 All right, big Citrus convene, let's set the timer. I'm 0:06:43.279 --> 0:06:44.680 not going to go in actual minutes, so give me 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:46.280 a minute. Kind of a missomer. I'm gonna go three 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:47.880 minutes on this one. I think that's what we need. 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:49.080 Setting the timer. 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:52.080 Alex thoughts, Oh so many thoughts. 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:55.640 I want to both simultaneously scream into avoid and do 0:06:55.720 --> 0:07:00.719 the longest deep sigh ever. Okay, I'm gonna start with 0:07:00.720 --> 0:07:03.680 the math. Take one. In Christine's column, she mentions that 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:06.520 ticket prices have fallen more than three hundred percent in 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:09.720 less than two days. Now, I know that percentage changed 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:14.200 calculations are hard, but three hundred percent drop would mean 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:16.640 that the WNBA would be paying people to go to 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:18.840 the game. So if a ticket was one hundred dollars 0:07:18.920 --> 0:07:21.720 before and it drops three hundred percent, that means each 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:24.200 person would get two hundred dollars for just showing up. 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:26.800 That's not what's happening. So first, math lesson. 0:07:27.240 --> 0:07:31.040 Second, I'm so tired of hearing the argument that Caitlin 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:33.480 Clark is lifting the league and shining a light on 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:36.320 all these players that never had respect before by someone 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:39.520 who continually ignores every other player in the league, and 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:42.040 at the same time suggesting that, oh, maybe they're going 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:44.800 to be giving tickets away for free. Those two things 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:48.440 do not line up. They are arguing against each other. Okay, 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:49.960 I'm gonna leave it right there for now. 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:51.040 All right, Mesha hop In. 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:53.680 So the first thing that really pisses me off here 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:56.360 is because is that the Fever are playing my mystics 0:07:56.560 --> 0:07:59.320 this game that Christine's talking about, where tickets should be 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:02.960 given away. Are the Fever against the Mystics in Baltimore 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:05.760 for the first time in forever by my accounts, which 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:08.960 is really cool as an opportunity to uplift women's sports 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:12.440 generally speaking in the DMV area and to bring more 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:15.440 people to rally around this team that has so much potential, 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:18.760 so many young guns, so much exciting stuff still on 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:21.600 the table for them this season, and it feels like 0:08:21.680 --> 0:08:23.520 spinning in their face just to say that they should 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:25.640 be giving away tickets. That's insane to me, first and 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:28.120 foremost second of all. At the time of recording this, 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:31.920 the Fever have played four games. Four games. Caitlin Clark 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:34.880 missing two weeks here is not going to ruin the WNBA. 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:37.200 It's not going to ruin the Indiana Fever, and it's 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:38.800 not going to make people turn the TV off and say, 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:40.600 you know what, I don't care about the WNBA anymore. 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:42.360 Matter of fact, it doesn't exist to me. I don't 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:45.400 know it's that's not gonna happen. And I think she's 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:47.920 blowing it way out of proportion. Anybody who is just 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:51.400 needs to take a deep breath, wo Saw, calm the down. 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:52.480 Everything is going to. 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:56.160 Be Okay, I think for me, the thing that stands 0:08:56.160 --> 0:08:59.920 out the most is what is the intention of the writing. Yes, 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:03.040 let's acknowledge the impact that Caitlyn Clark has had on attendance, 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:05.520 on merchandise, on awareness, all of that. 0:09:06.040 --> 0:09:07.679 Nobody is saying otherwise. 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:10.679 But your opportunity here is to write a column that says, 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:13.960 with Caitlin Clark out for two weeks, how can w 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:18.360 fans learn about the other players and storylines that will 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:18.880 make them. 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:20.440 Enjoy the game more? Exactly? 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:22.280 If you want to tell us that this is a 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:25.679 massive gap and opportunity for the league, then step into 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:28.760 that gap and offer up something else that uplifts the 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:32.000 rest of the players in the league instead of bemoaning 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:34.600 something that can't be fixed because there isn't a solution. Well, 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:36.640 you could do put the league on hold until Caitln 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:37.280 feels better. 0:09:37.360 --> 0:09:38.560 Everybody you got to do. 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:42.240 Everybody pause, nobody do anything until her booboo is better. 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:45.400 It reminds me of how Christine Brennan's women's basketball coverage 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:48.200 from last Summer's Olympics focused on how few members of 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:50.920 the press were there. She didn't actually cover the basketball, right, 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:53.320 It just always along her same agenda. 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:55.400 And it's the same thing here. The timer's up. 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:57.319 So I'm just going to give us one last thought, 0:09:57.360 --> 0:09:59.960 which is, again, it is okay to acknowledge all these things. 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:01.800 And certainly there is a bias that we bring to 0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:05.560 this conversations because of previous interactions with both Christine Brennan 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:08.120 and players in the w and stories that she's written about. 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:09.719 So this isn't a takedown of her. 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:12.240 It's an opportunity for us to recognize that when we 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:16.559 want to say these things about this transcendent player, let's 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:19.000 use these opportunities where people are going to click on 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:22.160 that story and read about her absence, to instead tell 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:24.760 a better story than the one where we're just complaining 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:27.160 about her being injured, because that is a reality that 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:29.640 we cannot fix and you are not making the league 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:32.239 any stronger or any better by complaining about. 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:35.240 It, and it's lazy, all right. I feel good about that. 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:36.960 I think I'm really going to enjoy that segment. 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:38.920 I really do need to vent a lot of times 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:40.440 during these and I'm like, oh, I'm going to keep 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:41.280 a journalistic but. 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:42.800 We're going to vent from here on out. 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:44.920 And I don't know if you started your clock and 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:46.560 you were like, that wasn't exactly three minutes. 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:48.240 Shh shh. 0:10:48.440 --> 0:10:50.920 We're just that was our first try. Okay, give us 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:52.960 a break. We're not so good with the clock. 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:54.520 All right, we got to take a quick break when 0:10:54.520 --> 0:11:06.400 we come back. All things softball with Jessica Mendoza joining. 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:08.040 Us now, she's softball Royalty. 0:11:08.120 --> 0:11:10.360 She was a collegiate four time first team All American 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:12.520 at Stanford and a two time Olympic medalist with Team 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:16.199 USA gold in Athens and Silver and Beijing. She played 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:18.480 her pro ball in the National Pro Fast Pitch League 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:20.440 and was the twenty eleventh Player of the Year. A 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:23.880 Women's College World Series analyst for ESPN and baseball analysts 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:26.679 for ESPN and the Los Angeles Dodgers. She's also advising 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:29.400 Athletes Unlimited for the inaugural season of the Athletes Unlimited 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:33.640 Softball League aka the AUSL, launching next month. A past 0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:35.839 president of the Women's Sports Foundation, she wanted to be 0:11:35.920 --> 0:11:39.360 an orthopedic surgeon, pivoted to politics and educational reform, then 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:42.280 made the Olympic team in softball and sports have never 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:44.520 let her quit them. It's jess ben Doza. 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:46.080 Hi, Jess, Oh. 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:48.360 My gosh, that is the most unique intro I've ever 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:50.280 had in my life. I love it. You kind of 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:53.080 wrapped up everything about me like ten seconds. 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:53.920 I try my best. 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:56.400 I remember when you came on my old podcast that 0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:59.480 your bio was like a thousand miles long, and I 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:01.400 was just like so impressed that everything you managed to 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:03.840 accomplish at Stanford, while playing, while being in the Olympics, 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:06.520 at everything else, and you just get more impressive. So 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:09.040 we're gonna talk College World Series and a little AUSL 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:11.960 but I'm really excited to get your insight on College 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:15.120 Women's World Series, aka the Greatest Show on Dirt. The 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:18.280 action kicks off twelve pm Eastern on Thursday, Florida, take 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:21.640 it on Texas Live on ESPN, part of a quadruple header. 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:23.600 So before we get to the matchups, I want you 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:25.840 to set the stage. You cover this event every year. 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:29.440 It's one of the most popular sports in all of television, 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:30.559 all of college sports. 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:32.920 Ratings growing popularity growing. What makes it so. 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:36.960 Special the emotion and the passion, and you see that 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:40.359 across sports in the postseason. But there's something about softball, 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:43.880 you know, just being an outdoor sport in this like 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:49.800 fast pace, like just absolutely emotionally like the way you know, 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:52.240 any girl who played softball, even growing up, you had 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:55.760 like the cheering and the loud and the just there's 0:12:55.760 --> 0:12:59.319 so much uniqueness to our game that even though we're 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:03.800 compared with baseball, the pace and the emotional passion that 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:07.520 comes out every time everyone's that a new fan comes in. 0:13:07.600 --> 0:13:10.120 That's probably the biggest thing they always remark on is like, 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:11.959 oh my gosh, these girls had me in tears that 0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:14.240 they had me out of my seat. It's just so 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:15.360 emotionally charged. 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:19.600 Yeah, the chanting and just the vibes. The vibes are 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:20.080 so good. 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:22.040 Tell me about the seat in Oklahoma City ahead of 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:23.079 the game starting on Thursday. 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:25.160 Well, it's kind of nuts right now because we got 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:28.720 the NBA happening right now literally in front of me. 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:32.000 So I'm right across the street from the arena. The 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:36.000 Timberwolves are on my floor, and so you know, like 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:39.839 a Rods down the road, Like it's just NBA meets 0:13:39.960 --> 0:13:42.840 with so the Oklahoma who's the favorite here They're at 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:45.520 the same hotel. So you just kind of have this 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:48.200 and this has happened in the past as well, where 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:50.640 the thunder are in either the finals or you know 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:54.679 this far down and it's just a playoff atmosphere. But 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:56.120 then you have you have the team. So I was 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:58.040 at the stadium all day to day. You know, we're 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:00.360 meeting with eight teams and you know, you teams that 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:02.640 have never been here before in Old miss you have 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:04.640 teams that haven't been here in a really long time. 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:06.560 Like you niver see an organ in a new conference. 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:10.520 So you get this like just little kid vibe, right, 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:14.120 like the little girl in you comes out. We all 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:17.040 kind of grew up watching our heroes in some capacity, 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:18.920 and for a lot of these women, it was the 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:21.640 women that were on this stage, the greatest show on dirt, 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:23.360 and they have those memories and now they're just like 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:25.640 are you kidding me? Like I get to be on 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:27.600 this field that's so historic. 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:30.600 Well, and as if there wasn't enough enthusiasm and excitement, 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:33.400 which there is every year because it's always in Oklahoma City. 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:34.720 Everybody knows it's going to be there. 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:37.480 Everybody knows, you know, the scene is going to be incredible. 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:40.200 But then to add into that the thunder and the 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:43.800 playoff excitement around that team, Gosh, it must be absolutely crazy. 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:46.320 There is this feeling I think when the event is 0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:48.440 in the same place pretty much every year, and you 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:50.640 return and you have the feelings as soon as you 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:53.880 land of the peak moments from the years before, of 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:56.000 this bond with all the people that you share it with, 0:14:56.040 --> 0:14:58.440 and you have quite a bond with the fellow broadcasters 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:00.560 and analysts that you work with. Tell us about the 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:03.040 team that we'll be hearing from and what it means 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:05.600 to get to come back home every year to Oklahoma 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:06.280 City to work on this. 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:08.680 Well, first of all, can I give a little shout out? 0:15:08.720 --> 0:15:12.160 We just found out we are the longest tenured broadcast 0:15:12.200 --> 0:15:17.320 team of any sport, in any genre, gender, whatever. Next 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:20.160 year will be our twentieth year doing the Women's College 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:23.280 World Series. Beth Mowens, who's our play by play, myself 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:25.920 and Michelle Smith are the analyst. And Holly row as 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:27.800 everyone knows from all the sports. 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:28.160 That she does. 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:31.240 But this is all of us together, our twentieth year 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:34.080 this next year, so nineteen this year, longest tenured booth, 0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:36.920 and it really is like a family. I was just calling, 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:38.760 let me go get my wife, because Beth is like 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:41.240 my road wife, and like, I know what she likes 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:43.960 between games. I know how much coffee she's gonna need Like, 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:46.320 I mean, it's just unbelievable when you kind of live 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:49.080 and breathe with these women for so many years. But 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:51.840 also like I mean, we are at the fields twenty 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:55.000 hours a day, like, you know, extra innings. Through it all, 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:58.440 we've Beth Mowens has called the biggest moments of our sport. 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:00.680 You know, she was calling games when I played, and 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:02.720 I mean it's like, okay, let's bring it back right 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:06.960 black and white television. So it's pretty cool that she's 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:08.480 the voice of the sport. The fact that we've all 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:10.720 been able to stay together and he's you know, Sarah, 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:15.680 like pretty feels I possible, you know, within a sport. Yeah. 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:19.040 Yeah, Have you noticed the broadcast set up, the resources, 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:21.440 the investment in it change over the years. 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:25.000 Sarah, Oh my gosh. So when I first started, first 0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:27.280 I was with John Cropp, who, for those that don't 0:16:27.280 --> 0:16:31.600 know phil longtime Philadelphia Phillies player, MLB analysts for ESPN 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:34.040 now those games for the Phillies. So it was him 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:36.800 and I He's a big, huge softball fan, but we 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:39.440 were literally they built us because they didn't have a 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:42.479 press box at the time. They built us a hardboard 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:45.400 box like legit made it, and they would paint it 0:16:45.520 --> 0:16:48.240 black so that it looked professional. So if you can 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:51.160 imagine Oklahoma City end in May early June in a 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:55.080 black literally a black box with no A, C, know nothing, 0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:58.440 and then they kind of like windows, and so the 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:01.120 fans which is coming like pop their heads and be like, hey, 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:03.120 what are you guys doing, like live on air, So 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:05.080 you like put signs up like please don't put your 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:06.920 head in the booth, like please don't talk to us. 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:08.919 Oh my gosh, the animals. 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:10.960 Oh my gosh, Sarah, and we would be like dripping 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:14.680 swig like yeah, unbelieva. Of course you don't know, right, 0:17:14.720 --> 0:17:16.920 You're just like this is awesome, this is so cool. 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:19.800 And now I mean state of the art stadium most 0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:22.199 likely going to host the twenty twenty eight Olympics as 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:25.720 we know. So it is definitely the home for all 0:17:25.760 --> 0:17:28.320 of softball and the amount of money that the city 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:30.879 of Oklahoma City is put into it, and obviously the 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:32.960 sport in USA softball is profound. 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:36.960 That reminds me of one of my only two occasions 0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:41.639 quote unquote calling softball but not legitimately, both relating to 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:44.520 allege of their own and at the espn W summit 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:46.800 one year, a bunch of alums from the movie. We're 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:50.159 playing against a local team and Penny Marshall and I 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:54.800 were in the makeshift booth that the local whatever Division 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:59.320 III college had no AC and she was just churning 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:03.520 through siga, just heater after heater directly in my face. 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:06.680 Not long before she passed away, actually, but like telling 0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:10.320 me stories about working with Madonna and getting Rosie O'Donnell 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:12.600 and who was the best at actually playing baseball for 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:13.200 the movie. 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:15.480 It's like an incredible memory. 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:15.399 That I have. 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:19.359 But it was eight thousand degrees and I inhaled about three. 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:19.959 Packs that day. 0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:23.320 Yeah, that was me back then too, just thrown them down, 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:25.040