Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we heard
Speaker 1: you loud and clear, trend soap and Mal. We're only
Speaker 1: drinking triple espressos from here on out. Our brains are
Speaker 1: vibrating inside our heads and we can't buel our hands,
Speaker 1: but it's so worth it. On today's show, we'll tell
Speaker 1: you what events to pay attention to while you rot
Speaker 1: on your couch this last weekend at the Olympics. Plus
Speaker 1: producer Alex wais in on wrestling, I help you understand
Speaker 1: what the heck's going on in the break in competition,
Speaker 1: and producer Misha and I talk about how we get
Speaker 1: the iconic Dynastic USA basketball team the hype that they deserve.
Speaker 1: It's all coming up right after this welcome back slices.
Speaker 1: Today's show is coming to you directly under the flight
Speaker 1: path of the rehearsals for Chicago's aired Water Show. So
Speaker 1: if you hear a whoosh during the show, it's either
Speaker 1: an F thirty five C or one of Canada's soccer drones. Okay,
Speaker 1: here's what you need to know today. On the map,
Speaker 1: twenty year old US wrestler a meat alre secured her
Speaker 1: first ever Olympic medal, and it was the best kind
Speaker 1: to gold in the women's sixty eight kilo event. Get this, y'all,
Speaker 1: A meat hasn't lost a match in five years, and
Speaker 1: she's got an international record of forty one straight wins
Speaker 1: absolute dominance. With the victory, she becomes the youngest Olympic
Speaker 1: gold medalist in the history of US wrestling and just
Speaker 1: the third American woman to take home the gold. One
Speaker 1: day later, Team USA Sarah Hildebrandt became the fourth winning
Speaker 1: the fifty kilo competition. We'll have more on that event
Speaker 1: later in the show. In boxing, if you've been listening
Speaker 1: to a good game, you know the name Iman Khalif, the
Speaker 1: Algerian welterweight boxer, Well, she's onto the gold medal about today.
Speaker 1: She'll face Yonglu at four to fifty one pm Eastern
Speaker 1: today with a chance to win Algeria's first women's boxing
Speaker 1: gold medal. And you should also know the name lyn
Speaker 1: U Ting. We've talked about her, the boxer for Chinese
Speaker 1: Taipei is onto the featherweight gold medal round on Saturday.
Speaker 1: I mean, if you're just talking from the outside looking in,
Speaker 1: it seems hard enough to reach this stage at all,
Speaker 1: but to do it with all the noise that's been
Speaker 1: surrounding them. Huge kudos to both of them. In indoor volleyball,
Speaker 1: the reigning Olympic champion US team beat Brazil in the
Speaker 1: semifinals in a five set thriller that was a rematch
Speaker 1: of the Tokyo final. US move on to the gold
Speaker 1: medal match on Sunday. In track and field, the four
Speaker 1: by one hundred relay team ran itself into a spot
Speaker 1: in today's final, and if you didn't catch the semi
Speaker 1: Shakarrie Richardson put the team on her back in the
Speaker 1: anchor leg. After a less than ideal baton exchange early
Speaker 1: in the race worth giving it a watch. Richardson breezed
Speaker 1: past Germany's anchor in the last fifty meters and even
Speaker 1: gave her a glance in the process. It was the
Speaker 1: stuff of legend. In the fifteen hundred, Americans Nikki Hilts
Speaker 1: and El Saint Pierre qualified for the final, with both
Speaker 1: finishing third in their respective semi final heats. You could
Speaker 1: tune in Saturday to watch them run for gold. In
Speaker 1: the four hundred meter hurdle, Sidney McLaughlin Lavroni set another
Speaker 1: world record winning gold in the final with a time
Speaker 1: of fifty point three seconds. Holy flash, this is the
Speaker 1: fifth time she's broken her own record. Her USA teammate
Speaker 1: Anna Cockrel earned the silver in a personal best fifty
Speaker 1: one point eight seven seconds, and Dutch sprinter Femca Bowl
Speaker 1: won bronze. Team USA also picked up two medals in
Speaker 1: the long jump. Woodhull won it all. That's right, Tara
Speaker 1: Davis Woodhall won gold and Jasmine Moore grabbed bronze. This
Speaker 1: is Woodall's first Olympic medal, three years after she finished
Speaker 1: sixth in her Olympic debut. Moore adds another bronze to
Speaker 1: her collection. She won it in the triple jump earlier
Speaker 1: this week. In the pool, you guys were sad today.
Speaker 1: Our girl, Maggie Steffens and the US water polo team
Speaker 1: fell to Australia in the semi final round on a
Speaker 1: penalty shootout. Australia will go on to face Spain in
Speaker 1: the gold medal game on Saturday, while the US and
Speaker 1: the Netherlands will play for bronze. And here's a stat
Speaker 1: to highlight just how dominant Team USA has been in
Speaker 1: this sport in recent years. Paris will mark the first
Speaker 1: time they won't be competing in the gold medal game
Speaker 1: in twenty years. They claimed silver back in two thousand
Speaker 1: and eight, followed by three straight golds. We're still super
Speaker 1: pumped for them, and we're really excited that they're in
Speaker 1: the medal rounds and we're wishing them the best against
Speaker 1: the Netherlands. We're just bombed. We just really wanted Maggie
Speaker 1: and the rest of the team in Flavor Flav and
Speaker 1: everybody involved to get another gold. Some non Olympic news,
Speaker 1: we're gonna mention men's sports real quick, but we've got
Speaker 1: a great reason because the mnba's Los Angeles Lakers officially
Speaker 1: released their coaching staff for the upcoming season, and former
Speaker 1: WNBA hooper Lindsay Harding became the first woman ever announced
Speaker 1: as an assistant coach for the franchise. She was the
Speaker 1: first woman to win g League Coach of the Year
Speaker 1: last year and has been a regular presence on MNBA
Speaker 1: affiliated benches since retiring from the WNBA in twenty sixteen.
Speaker 1: That's a lot of firsts. Hats off to you, Lindsay.
Speaker 1: Speaking of la Jordan, Childs told today's show host Hotacopy
Speaker 1: that she'll be returning to UCLA to finish up her
Speaker 1: last two years competing for Bruins Gymnastics. The nine time
Speaker 1: All American wrapped up her sophomore season in Westwood as
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty three NCAA uneven Bars and floor Exercise champion.
Speaker 1: That is big news that she's returning to the Blue
Speaker 1: and Gold. Now onto the kiddos. The Little League Softball
Speaker 1: World Series Championship game in Greenville, North Carolina takes place
Speaker 1: on Sunday, and wake up, bestie. Angel Reese's Rebok collection
Speaker 1: just dropped and the silver shoes are sick. You could
Speaker 1: check out the link in the show notes to see
Speaker 1: what's in stock rebuck stock rhyming. You might notice that
Speaker 1: we did not mention the debut of Breaking in the
Speaker 1: Olympics tomorrow. Don't you worry, my little aspiring be girls
Speaker 1: and bee boys. We got you covered. Breaking is actually
Speaker 1: the subject of the very first installment of No Dumb Question.
Speaker 1: You're thinking it, but you don't want to say it.
Speaker 1: You're wondering it, but you don't want to ask it. Well,
Speaker 1: we're here for you, because you know what, here a
Speaker 1: good game. With Sarah Spain, there are no dumb questions.
Speaker 1: So let's get into it.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: So, if I've seen the nineteen eighty four breakdancing movie
Speaker 3: Break in Am, I all set for the Olympics.
Speaker 1: Not quite. Here's how it's gonna go down. In Paris.
Speaker 1: There are sixteen breakers, we call them B girls, and
Speaker 1: they'll battle in one on one competitive dance matchups. Each
Speaker 1: battle is a best of three rounds, and the rounds
Speaker 1: are called throwdowns. A throwdown starts the moment a breaker
Speaker 1: starts their performance, and the breakers given up to sixty
Speaker 1: seconds to complete their routine, with the opposing breaker responding
Speaker 1: with a throwdown. It's kind of like a walk off
Speaker 1: in Zuelander. So the sixteen breakers are divided into four
Speaker 1: groups of four and they compete in a round robin stage.
Speaker 1: They're matched in one on one battles with each of
Speaker 1: the other breakers in their groups, and then the two
Speaker 1: winners from each group advance. They're seated one to eight,
Speaker 1: and the lower seeds face the higher seeds in knockout rounds.
Speaker 1: So quarter semis, and finals are all knockout rounds. So,
Speaker 1: unlike in figure skating or gymnastics, B girls do not
Speaker 1: know the music ahead of time, so the improv element
Speaker 1: is a huge part of what they're being. They go
Speaker 1: out there and when the music starts, they're reacting and
Speaker 1: doing moves as a response to what they're hearing.
Speaker 4: Are they just doing whatever moves they want?
Speaker 1: No, They've actually got three sets of elements. Top rock
Speaker 1: are the dance moves that are performed while the b
Speaker 1: girl is standing. Down rock is the part of the
Speaker 1: breaker's performance that's composed on the floor. And freeze is
Speaker 1: when the breaker holds a pose in an unusual position
Speaker 1: during the middle of their performance. It also sounds like
Speaker 1: a really bad tribute band to the Beastie Boys. Top Rock,
Speaker 1: down Rock, and freeze. And this is my favorite part,
Speaker 1: you guys. Breakers can actually be penalized for acts or
Speaker 1: gestures during their performance that the judges consider inappropriate, and
Speaker 1: they have three buttons for that mild, moderate, and severe,
Speaker 1: which I have to assume is just like a full
Speaker 1: crotch grab. But they hit the button and that percentage
Speaker 1: of points based on whether it's mild, moderate, or severe
Speaker 1: gets taken off of their score. And that can be
Speaker 1: something that's sort of unintentional all the way up to
Speaker 1: a fully sexual or disparaging act in the middle of
Speaker 1: their breaking performance, So.
Speaker 2: They're scored based on who looks the coolest, right.
Speaker 1: Sadly no, though they will all look cooler than any
Speaker 1: of us have ever looked or will ever look in
Speaker 1: our entire lives throughout their competition. Instead, there's a panel
Speaker 1: of nine judges and they score them based on five things,
Speaker 1: so technique, vocabulary, execution, musicality, and originality. Each of those
Speaker 1: count for twenty percent of the final score. And then
Speaker 1: this is really cool, So the judges use a digital
Speaker 1: slider to score the battles, and the slider shifts in
Speaker 1: real time toward the breaker who's out performing the opposing
Speaker 1: dancer in a specific category. It feels like it would
Speaker 1: look kind of like your son's panel when you're like
Speaker 1: turning up the music in the living room and down
Speaker 1: in the kitchen, or like when you go to a
Speaker 1: game and they're like cheer louder and you're watching the
Speaker 1: thing like go like in the yellow and then it
Speaker 1: gets orange and then it gets rend Ah. It's like that,
Speaker 1: except for you're seeing it move back and forth between
Speaker 1: the breakers based on who's doing a better job in
Speaker 1: each thing.
Speaker 4: So cool, is there anyone in particular I should be
Speaker 4: on the watch for Yes.
Speaker 1: Of course, we root for all of the breakers, especially
Speaker 1: the Americans because you know, Jingoism, But sunny Choi is
Speaker 1: the one I'm most excited to see you. Remember I
Speaker 1: mentioned sunny Choi because I wanted to see a feature
Speaker 1: film about her in a previous edition of Fight Me
Speaker 1: on the show. She's the one who's the former Wharton
Speaker 1: grad and director of Global Creative Operations for Skincare at
Speaker 1: es Day Lauder, who just in the middle of her
Speaker 1: life in her thirties, was like, I'm out of here,
Speaker 1: Esday Lauder. I'm gonna go break for gold. Uh. Just
Speaker 1: the coolest story ever. So sunny Choi, let's go today
Speaker 1: ten am Eastern, start finals at three twenty eastern. You
Speaker 1: your couch breaking, You're all set. We're gonna take a
Speaker 1: quick break. When we come back, we're going to talk
Speaker 1: about a dynasty that's not getting enough love and a
Speaker 1: wrestling story that's going to blow your mind. Stick around.
Speaker 1: Welcome back, Orge Slices. Let's talk a little hoops. We
Speaker 1: haven't done a deep dive into the US women's basketball team,
Speaker 1: and I think in part that's because we're sort of
Speaker 1: assuming that they're destined for an eighth straight. But taking
Speaker 1: brilliance like this team has for granted is pretty unfair,
Speaker 1: and it kind of feels like we're not alone in
Speaker 1: doing that. I understand that the sports with other major
Speaker 1: tournaments and competitions take kind of a backseat to the
Speaker 1: sports we see as quote unquote Olympic sports, and we
Speaker 1: get really excited about.
Speaker 2: Only every four years.
Speaker 1: But I do think we risk underappreciating just how great
Speaker 1: this US women's basketball team is. When we do that,
Speaker 1: we'll actually get to that and where they rank in
Speaker 1: the pantheon of dynasties. But first I want to talk
Speaker 1: a little bit about what we've seen from them so far.
Speaker 1: And I'm going to bring in producer Meche for this
Speaker 1: because there are designated hooped Meichhe obviously, like, there's been
Speaker 1: so much other stuff to watch, so I've been trying
Speaker 1: to get a little bit into the basketball, but I
Speaker 1: have to admit I'm kind of waiting till the gold
Speaker 1: medal match, which might be a mistake, it might be
Speaker 1: a jinx. But what have you seen so far? I mean,
Speaker 1: most of what I've seen highlights of and heard about
Speaker 1: is like, you can't beat a team when Asia Wilson
Speaker 1: and Brianna Stewart are on the court together.
Speaker 3: That's pretty much been the conclusion I've come to as well.
Speaker 3: It's such a joy watching those two players who I
Speaker 3: consider one and two in the world, Asia and then Stewie.
Speaker 3: To be real clear for folks out there, they both
Speaker 3: do things that make them unguardable. Like first of all,
Speaker 3: we got to give Asia a happy birthday shout out
Speaker 3: on Thursday was her birthday, twenty eighth for fellow LEAs
Speaker 3: fellow young with.
Speaker 1: Me, you know, no tea, no shade, you know what unnecessary,
Speaker 1: some tons of shade.
Speaker 3: But you know, with her at the true five to
Speaker 3: have the mobility, she has to have the strength. She
Speaker 3: has the jumper in the touch and then just like
Speaker 3: the relentlessness of spirit, you can't do anything with her.
Speaker 3: And it's the same thing with Stewie. She's special because
Speaker 3: she fits anywhere you put her. She's like clay. You
Speaker 3: can literally ask her to do anything and she will
Speaker 3: be excellent at it. In this tournament, you know, both
Speaker 3: of them have had their talents on full display. And
Speaker 3: a lot of people might have heard Sue Bird talking
Speaker 3: about earlier this week the national team being the most
Speaker 3: uncomfortable basketball you ever play.
Speaker 2: If you're not the star.
Speaker 3: Well, these two are stars, and they're looking really really
Speaker 3: comfortable right now.
Speaker 1: They're getting to do their thing. I need I need
Speaker 1: the shirt. If we haven't printed it yet, stousha at
Speaker 1: the Stoojatuja shirts please. Also, what have you made of
Speaker 1: Jackie Young in the starting lineup Danna Tarassi to the bench, Like,
Speaker 1: is this maybe more just save a little of DT's
Speaker 1: energy as the elder stateswoman as a fellow old shout
Speaker 1: out to us for the gold medal match.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it could be a little bit of that.
Speaker 3: It could also be the fact that there's also no
Speaker 3: answer for Jackie Young so far in this tournament. I mean,
Speaker 3: she is to me. It wasn't a really shocking move
Speaker 3: by Shio Reeve. I just think it was about time
Speaker 3: to do something like that. It feels like a kind
Speaker 3: of a handing of the baton, so to speak. And
Speaker 3: that's not to say DT is washed, because we all
Speaker 3: know DT is absolutely not washed. But a lot of
Speaker 3: people describe Jackie Young as a Swiss army knife, and
Speaker 3: that's exactly what she is for any team you put
Speaker 3: her up against. So you know, they got off to
Speaker 3: a tougher start against Nigeria because that team is just
Speaker 3: full of heart and full of grit. But you saw
Speaker 3: what she was able to do secondly scorer for Team
Speaker 3: USA in that game, And yeah, I like the move.
Speaker 2: I'm not mad at it.
Speaker 1: Speaking that game, what do you make of the whole
Speaker 1: whether you should play to the whistle if you're ahead
Speaker 1: or if you're behind.
Speaker 3: You have a take on that I do, and my
Speaker 3: take is if you're winning, take the dub. You don't
Speaker 3: have to do all the extra stuff like a losing team,
Speaker 3: especially a team that has never competed against Team USA
Speaker 3: so closely as Nigeria did in the last game. You
Speaker 3: just let them have that, let them have that moment,
Speaker 3: let them play to the whistle. That has nothing and
Speaker 3: no bearing on what happens in the next game. On
Speaker 3: you know the outcome of that game. And so if
Speaker 3: you guys missed it, Khalia Copper kind of threw the
Speaker 3: ball out of player, which is not never a fave.
Speaker 3: Come on, dude, but cool, end of the day, you
Speaker 3: learn your lesson. You keep it pushing because cause an
Speaker 3: excellent player.
Speaker 1: Yeah we love ky here, but yeah, that move, it's
Speaker 1: it's like I want to say I have a definitive
Speaker 1: stance on this, and usually my stances you play whatever
Speaker 1: game you're playing until the whistle blows, not only for
Speaker 1: yourselves but for your opponents, for your fans. Like if
Speaker 1: I'm at a game, I don't want to see a
Speaker 1: team just stop playing. It's fine if you want to
Speaker 1: bring in bench players or subs, or you know, take
Speaker 1: your foot off the gas. I also don't think you
Speaker 1: need to run up the score. But I don't think
Speaker 1: when people freak out in either direction about a team
Speaker 1: playing through the whistle, I really ever get behind that stance.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, people freaking out about someone doing
Speaker 1: a windmill dunk to give the show to a fan
Speaker 1: when they're winning, as long as it's a fair fight, right.
Speaker 1: But I do think it's not to say that it
Speaker 1: wasn't a fair fight with Nigeria. But I do think
Speaker 1: you got a team that's gone farther than any basketball
Speaker 1: team for that country in the history of the games,
Speaker 1: and they put up a good, you know battle. Maybe
Speaker 1: I wouldn't suggest then getting into the Harlem gold Globe
Speaker 1: Trotterer moves, but I also think that the response to
Speaker 1: them trying to play through the whistle was kind of unnecessary.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and don't be mad at somebody respecting the sanctity
Speaker 3: of the game and the sanctity of you as an opponent.
Speaker 2: Like, that's just what it comes.
Speaker 1: And that's their moment in the Olympics. You know, you
Speaker 1: still want to get your points in your shots and
Speaker 1: have a chance to show off a little. Okay, So
Speaker 1: the US are going to face Australia at next in
Speaker 1: this semi final game. Quick look, quick preview of what
Speaker 1: you expect from this matchup with the opals.
Speaker 3: This is going to be fun, Sarah. I cannot wait
Speaker 3: for this matchup. There are gonna be a lot of
Speaker 3: WNBA names that fans might recognize in this one, but
Speaker 3: the biggest one that we could potentially see it's not
Speaker 3: a definitive as of right now, but Lauren Jackson, the
Speaker 3: five time Olympian who's got into and come out of
Speaker 3: retirement multiple times in her career, but she has not
Speaker 3: featured for Australia in their last two games.
Speaker 2: And Sandy Brondelo has.
Speaker 1: Told our good friend Erica ayala.
Speaker 3: Yes, if you don't know Erica, make sure you check
Speaker 3: out Erica's stuff. Shout out Erica at black Rosie media
Speaker 3: on everything, but she wrote a story in which Sandy
Speaker 3: Brondelo and Lauren Jackson both said there's no limitations, so
Speaker 3: she is available.
Speaker 2: We will see if she steps foot on the court though.
Speaker 1: Yes, one of those, like all greats that we definitely
Speaker 1: know from her time in the WNBA, and I'd be
Speaker 1: very interested to see what you do with a legend
Speaker 1: like that when you've got them available. Do you feel compelled?
Speaker 1: It's kind of like we talked about with the soccer.
Speaker 1: Does Martin have to start? Marte?
Speaker 2: Is it allowed to not play?
Speaker 1: Can you not play?
Speaker 2: With Lauren?
Speaker 1: Also speaking to people, we love Maggie Hendrix at Maggie
Speaker 1: Hendrix on Twitter you can follow or She's fantastic.
Speaker 2: She said.
Speaker 1: The game notes for the USA Basketball semi is all
Speaker 1: Taylor swift songs as the subheads, So shout out to
Speaker 1: whoever took the time to make that happen. We love
Speaker 1: Swifties living among us. Okay, So what I really wanted
Speaker 1: to talk to you about before we wrap up here
Speaker 1: is the dominance of this of this team. It's an
Speaker 1: unbelievable stretch. I'm they were winning basketball games well before
Speaker 1: you were born, and the streak is like nothing we've
Speaker 1: ever seen before. It's really unbelievable, and we just don't
Speaker 1: include them when we talk about the greatest teams of
Speaker 1: all time, the greatest dynasties of all time. Fifty nine
Speaker 1: straight games in the Olympics, these are the best teams
Speaker 1: in the world. There's no scrubs that they're getting to
Speaker 1: roll through. So how do we get after we get
Speaker 1: back to the WNBA in the basketball season, how do
Speaker 1: we get this team to be top of mind when
Speaker 1: people are making their all time great lists, when they're
Speaker 1: talking about dominance. How do we get people to stop
Speaker 1: taking them for granted?
Speaker 2: Man, Sarah, it's a big question.
Speaker 3: I think you know, the first half of the WNBA season,
Speaker 3: good steps were taken, right, We're seeing all sorts of
Speaker 3: you know, landmark media deals and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2: That's great.
Speaker 3: But what I hope happens from the Olympics to the
Speaker 3: WNBA is folks who are tuned in for that hopefully
Speaker 3: gold medal match or gold medal game, don't forget about
Speaker 3: what you saw here. This dominance that you're seeing from
Speaker 3: the US team against literally the rest of the world.
Speaker 3: Imagine that dominance all bottled up in one tiny little
Speaker 3: bottle and shaken and then you take the top off
Speaker 3: that bad boy. Like that's what the WNBA is. And
Speaker 3: I want people to understand the entertainment value, the educational
Speaker 3: value that still exists in the WNBA as opposed to
Speaker 3: the MNBA in my opinion, for young kids who are
Speaker 3: coming up and watching these games.
Speaker 2: But also, I mean the drama like sports is.
Speaker 3: Wonderful for that reason as well, and I think we
Speaker 3: get plenty of that in the WNBA. And folks who
Speaker 3: just love sports, love athletes being athletes, being competitors, coming
Speaker 3: for each other's throats. Like the more we can amplify
Speaker 3: that and illuminate that, the better.
Speaker 1: Shout out to Team USA basketball and God, please please
Speaker 1: let us not have jinxed them in some way by
Speaker 1: having this conversation and assuming they're gonna make it to
Speaker 1: the game.
Speaker 2: I'm standing right now.
Speaker 3: I'm standing it right Oh now, at me if they don't,
Speaker 3: at me, if they don't.
Speaker 1: Oh no, niche the journalists, no, oh no, you okay,
Speaker 1: sticking with the Olympics and stories, we're not talking about
Speaker 1: this one is much less about us knowing it well
Speaker 1: and taking it for granted. And more so not knowing
Speaker 1: much about it at all. But Alex brought this to
Speaker 1: my attention and I said, go for it. This is
Speaker 1: a really fantastic story, So Alex illuminate us.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Sarah, thank you so much for making the time
Speaker 4: for this. I wanted to take a few moments to
Speaker 4: talk about an athlete that you should know, even though
Speaker 4: she won't be leaving Paris with an Olympic medal. And
Speaker 4: just to quick heads up that this story includes references
Speaker 4: to both weight loss and sexual harassment. So to set
Speaker 4: the stage here, India is a country of one point
Speaker 4: four billion people but has never won an Olympic gold
Speaker 4: medal in any women's event in any sport, and that
Speaker 4: drought almost ended this week. Enter wrestler Venesh Fogot. After
Speaker 4: cruising through the early rounds of the fifty kilo wrestling competition,
Speaker 4: Fogott booked a spot in the gold medal final against
Speaker 4: American Sarah Hildebrand. Now, if you're not familiar with wrestling,
Speaker 4: stick with me for a second while I explain how
Speaker 4: it works. There are six women's weight classes at the Olympics,
Speaker 4: so if you can he in the fifty kilo category,
Speaker 4: like fogot does you have to weigh less than fifty
Speaker 4: kilos ahead of the competition. That's equivalent to one hundred
Speaker 4: and ten pounds, So you need to be under that number,
Speaker 4: but not too far under. In wrestling, you want to
Speaker 4: be at the top of your weight class. Mass moves
Speaker 4: mass now. Up until a few years ago, each wrestling
Speaker 4: event was contested in just one day, so you would
Speaker 4: weigh in on Friday night and then go home, eat
Speaker 4: a big meal and drink lots of fluids, and then
Speaker 4: come back on Saturday morning and wrestle all day. But
Speaker 4: this format led to athletes making big and honestly sometimes
Speaker 4: dangerous weightcuts ahead of competitions. They would train at a
Speaker 4: much bigger weight, put muscle on at that bigger weight,
Speaker 4: and then cut lots of water weight ahead of the competition.
Speaker 4: I remember interviewing a wrestler a few years ago who
Speaker 4: gained his water weight back after each way in by
Speaker 4: drinking the flavor packets that came with ramen, just the
Speaker 4: flavor packets and water, no noodles. So, in an effort
Speaker 4: to stop this type of weight cutting, a few years ago,
Speaker 4: Wrestling's Federation implemented a two day format in which athletes
Speaker 4: way in on the morning of both days of competition,
Speaker 4: and that brings us back to Venese Fogot. On day
Speaker 4: one of competition in Paris, she successfully made weight, defeating
Speaker 4: the defending Olympic champion in her first match of the
Speaker 4: day and then blazing through the rest of the bracket
Speaker 4: to become the first woman from India to ever make
Speaker 4: a wrestling Olympic final. Fans rallied around her from back
Speaker 4: home in India, where she is also known for her
Speaker 4: activism against sexual harassment. Last year, she and a group
Speaker 4: of female wrestlers protested the president of India's wrestling federation,
Speaker 4: accusing him of sexual harassment of young wrestlers. NPR reported
Speaker 4: that the accusations included groping the female wrestlers, stalking them,
Speaker 4: demanding sexual favors, and threatening them if they refused his advances.
Speaker 4: In a letter to the Indian Olympic Association, Vinesh wrote, quote, we,
Speaker 4: as senior wrestlers who fight for the country, only want
Speaker 4: to ensure a safe and secure place and environment for
Speaker 4: our young wrestlers, especially female wrestlers.
Speaker 2: End quote.
Speaker 4: All that to say, Fogott is someone who has already
Speaker 4: had to fight really big fights, even before reaching her
Speaker 4: third Olympics in Paris, and that brings us today two
Speaker 4: of the competition, when she did not make weight when
Speaker 4: it became clear the night before that she was at
Speaker 4: risk of being over the limit. Her team tried desperately
Speaker 4: to get her under, even resorting to cutting her hair,
Speaker 4: but it wasn't enough. She weighed in three and a
Speaker 4: half ounces over the limit, which is equivalent to the
Speaker 4: weight of a deck of cards. She was subsequently hospitalized
Speaker 4: for severe dehydration and disqualified. But this is what's getting
Speaker 4: people really mad. Even though she qualified for the gold
Speaker 4: medal final, she won't be taking home the silver medal.
Speaker 4: Wrestling's current rules state that if you fail to make
Speaker 4: weight on day two, all of your results from day
Speaker 4: one are voided and you are ranked last. And that
Speaker 4: is the type of thing that has real implications in
Speaker 4: terms of prize money, sponsorships, things like that. And on
Speaker 4: Thursday morning, Fogt announced her retirement from the sport on
Speaker 4: social media, which is really really sad. While wrestlers agree
Speaker 4: that weight cutting is part of the sport, many have
Speaker 4: rallied around Fogot, calling for the rules to be changed
Speaker 4: so that athletes are allowed to weigh in a few
Speaker 4: ounces heavier on day two in order to avoid situations
Speaker 4: like this in the future. I'm not necessarily sure what
Speaker 4: the solution is here, especially given that the current rules
Speaker 4: were implemented from a safety standpoint, but I do think
Speaker 4: that Fogot's story has the possibility of changing the format
Speaker 4: of the sport moving forward.
Speaker 1: Thank you for that, Alex. That's super heartbreaking and I
Speaker 1: don't know what the answer is, but it does feel
Speaker 1: like such a heartbreaking thing for that particular athlete and
Speaker 1: something that the sport needs to figure out. We got
Speaker 1: to take another break when we come back. Thank god,
Speaker 1: it's Friday, unless, of course, you're the American healthcare system
Speaker 1: and you got publicly embarrassed again for fucking around. We'll
Speaker 1: explain next. Welcome back, everybody, Happy Friday. And that's right,
Speaker 1: it's Fria, which means it's time for go around and
Speaker 1: find out Friday and today we've got a biggie America's
Speaker 1: healthcare system. I know you don't need me to tell
Speaker 1: you how messed up it is. This isn't news. They've
Speaker 1: been fucking around and finding out forever. But with the
Speaker 1: world's eyes on the games, the good old us of
Speaker 1: A was just outed across the globe once again for
Speaker 1: being a healthcare disaster. Let me introduce you to Airy Ramsey,
Speaker 1: US rugby player, bronze medalist, one of our finest and
Speaker 1: guess how she's spending her time in France in the
Speaker 1: Olympic village after finishing her competitions. Listen up, okay.
Speaker 5: Also, not only in the village to we have free food,
Speaker 5: but we have free dental, free healthcare. I literally just
Speaker 5: got a papch mare for free, and I have a
Speaker 5: Denis's appointment and I exam next week.
Speaker 1: Like what wild right? You got to fly to France
Speaker 1: and kick some assy ass in order to get your
Speaker 1: lady parts and your pearly whites checked out. Embarrassing America,
Speaker 1: truly embarrassing. Also, I really love when people call pap
Speaker 1: smears pap smears. You ain't a bagel girl, This isn't Einstein's.
Speaker 1: But thank you for the giggle, and trust me, you're
Speaker 1: not alone. Airy. I know so many people who call
Speaker 1: it a pap smear. I just can't every time. Anyway,
Speaker 1: follow ariy on TikTok at Ariana dot Ramsey. We love
Speaker 1: that you're listening, but We want you to get in
Speaker 1: the game every day too. So here's our good game
Speaker 1: play of the day, and it comes from our neighbors
Speaker 1: to the north, the new Toronto WNBA team. They want
Speaker 1: you to submit your ideas for a team name. We've
Speaker 1: included the link for submissions in the show notes, so
Speaker 1: go ahead and put your two cents in. Don't wait
Speaker 1: too long, though, because submissions close on August twenty eighth.
Speaker 1: I'm typing mine right now. Team America's hat nailed it. Oh. Also,
Speaker 1: I want you to grab some pals and watch Team
Speaker 1: USA fight for Olympic gold in soccer tomorrow. I already
Speaker 1: called my favorite local bar to find out what time
Speaker 1: they open. I'm getting there super early and saving seats
Speaker 1: for a big crew for us all to watch together.
Speaker 1: And I want us to work on that normalize watching
Speaker 1: and celebrating women with parties and get togethers, just like
Speaker 1: you do with tailgates and football season or office outings
Speaker 1: to baseball games. Tell your boss, let's go to a
Speaker 1: WNBA game instead of going to MNBA game. Tell your boss,
Speaker 1: let's go to a softball game instead of baseball. Whatever
Speaker 1: it is, just try to create some of that same
Speaker 1: nostalgia and celebration and pageantry around the women's sports that
Speaker 1: you love, and you got a lot of opportunities this weekend. Okay,
Speaker 1: earlier this week, we told you that just six percent
Speaker 1: of American monuments feature real women as their subjects, and
Speaker 1: we asked you what one female athlete you'd like to
Speaker 1: see immortalized in bronze. Shout out to Anna Casey, who said,
Speaker 1: why did this question make me immediately think of Billy
Speaker 1: on the street? Name my woman, fair fair. But some
Speaker 1: of you ignored my very clear directions to name all
Speaker 1: woman and instead listed like fifty eleven, so you self disqualified.
Speaker 1: But some of you did listen and gave very good answers.
Speaker 1: So here are some of the most bustworthy noms. Billy
Speaker 1: Jean King, Tara Vanderveer, Meghan Rappino, Wilma Rudolph, Tony Stone,
Speaker 1: Katie Ledecki, Cheryl Swoops, Catherine Switzer, Jenny Finch, Pearl Moore,
Speaker 1: Sue Byrd, Shamikwa Holtzklaw, Bonnie Blair, ALTHEA. Gibson, Simone Biles,
Speaker 1: Cheryl Miller, Flojo, Babe Diedrichson, Saharius, Diana Tarassi, and a
Speaker 1: few of you said, Don Staley, I got good news
Speaker 1: for you. The South Carolina women's basketball head coach is
Speaker 1: going to be honored with a bronze statue in downtown Columbia,
Speaker 1: set to be unveiled later this year. I loved the
Speaker 1: variety of sports and eras that you all came up with.
Speaker 1: And if you're listening and you heard a name on
Speaker 1: that list that you don't know, give it a Google.
Speaker 1: You can learn something new about a legend today. We
Speaker 1: always love hearing from you. Hit us up on email,
Speaker 1: good game at wondermedianetwork dot com, or leave us a
Speaker 1: voicemail at eight seven two two o four fifty seventy
Speaker 1: and don't forget to subscribe, Rate and review. It's easy
Speaker 1: watch going to space for eight days only to be
Speaker 1: stuck there till twenty twenty five. Rating negative one thousand
Speaker 1: out of five stars. Review This is a real thing
Speaker 1: that's happening people. On June fifth, the star Liner, a
Speaker 1: Boeing spacecraft, took astronauts Sunny Williams and Butch Wilmore to
Speaker 1: the International Space Station. Serious problems with the spacecraft Boeing
Speaker 1: No Shit means that the astronauts will not only be
Speaker 1: unable to return home on the spacecraft, but also that
Speaker 1: their once quick trip to outer space is now extended
Speaker 1: into twenty twenty five, with no set date for their return.
Speaker 1: This is from journalist Jessica Yellen quote. The International Space
Speaker 1: Station is roughly the size of a football field, and
Speaker 1: orbits are so quickly that it experiences a sunrise every
Speaker 1: ninety minutes. Me cool her. It's also full of large
Speaker 1: equipment and has been described as a claustrophobes nightmare. Me
Speaker 1: not cool. Her. Astronauts experience constant congestion as a result
Speaker 1: of fluids in their bodies shifting under reduced gravity. Me
Speaker 1: very very uncool. So these astronauts were supposed to be
Speaker 1: there for eight days? Did they bring a book? Two books?
Speaker 1: Can they download the entire series of Game of Thrones?
Speaker 1: What are they going to do up there till twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five? No? Thank you, hard pass negative one thousand stars,
Speaker 1: sending them very very good vibes. Now it's your turn
Speaker 1: to rate and review, like Allegras Sinclair, who gave us
Speaker 1: five stars and said a delicious calorie free daily treat.
Speaker 1: Good game of Sarah Spain has quickly become my go
Speaker 1: to daily self care indulgence. This podcast is absolutely fantastic.
Speaker 1: Sarah Spain sprinkles her deep love and respect for women
Speaker 1: athletes over every aspect of the show, covering a wide
Speaker 1: range of women's sports with passion and insight. I'm only
Speaker 1: four episodes in, but each episode is assaulted kra milkcake
Speaker 1: of insightful interviews and lap out loud conversations with guests
Speaker 1: I legit want to hear from. I'm loving seeing women's
Speaker 1: sports celebrated with all this enthusiasm and respect. I've been
Speaker 1: wanting a daily women's sports show like this for ages,
Speaker 1: and this one is delicious. Thank you, Allegra. We think
Speaker 1: you and this review are delicious too. Thanks to all
Speaker 1: of you for listening. See you next week. Slices, Good Game,
Speaker 1: Astronauts Stuck in Space, Good Game, Happy Birthday, Asia Wilson.
Speaker 1: Few rules in sports that we don't have a solution
Speaker 1: for but still make us really sad for athletes. Good
Speaker 1: Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production
Speaker 1: in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can
Speaker 1: find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network. Our
Speaker 1: producers are Alex Azzi and Misha Jones. Our executive producers
Speaker 1: are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Speaker 1: Our editors are Jenny Kaplan, Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez and
Speaker 1: Grace Lynch. Production assistants from Lucy Jones and I'm Your
Speaker 1: Host Sarah Spain