April 24, 2025 • 54 mins
World Cup and two-time NWSL champion Meghan Klingenberg joins Sarah to share how Chappell Roan’s music got her through a tough time in Portland last season and how she realized it was time to leave the Thorns. Also, how soccer is a vehicle to bring her own joy forward, how she handled the end of her national team career, and challenging herself to be uncomfortable on purpose this year. Plus, double dual-sports news, some top college hoops transfers reveal their new homes, and Sarah recaps her experience at the Deep Blue Business of Women’s Sports Summit.
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Check out Sarah’s selfie with Ellie the Elephant here
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And see Meghan’s dapper old man Halloween costume here
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Send us a note at goodgame@wondermedianetwork.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we finally
got to meet Ellie the Elephant. I showed her a
pick of my Halloween costume. I told her about my splits.
She kissed me with her trunk. We're basically besties now.
Don't be surprised if there's a special guest dancer during
the first Ellie Stomp of the season. It's Thursday, April
twenty fourth, and on today's show will be joined by
(00:20):
World Cup and NWSL champion Megan Klingenberg for a thoughtful
conversation on identity, music and knowing when it's time to
move on. Plus two dreams are hatched with one shovel,
breaking NWSL records with diamonds and a reminder that all plants,
including citrus trees, need a little help to grow.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
That's all coming up right after this. Welcome back, y'all.
Here's what you need to know today.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Instead of starting with a sport, we're going to start
with a place, Portland, Oregon, where earlier this week, ground
was broken on a new training facility that'll be shared
by the NWSL's Portland Thorns and the city's new WNBA
expansion team. Both teams are owned by the Bethal Families
RAJ Sports. The training center is expected to open in
early twenty twenty six, just in time for the Thorns
(01:12):
season and ahead of the yet to be named WNBA
expansion team's debut. A little more dual sports news, the
NWSL's BFC announced that they'll play the Washington Spirit at
Oracle Park, home of the MLB's San Francisco Giants, in August.
BFC could break the NWSL's attendance record if fans show out,
because forty two hundred and sixty fans can cram into
(01:33):
Oracle Park, that's twice as many as BFC's normal venue,
PayPal Park. The current NWSL attendance record was set last
summer when the Chicago Stars played against Bay in front
of thirty five thousand and thirty eight fans at Wrigley Field.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yours truly was one of.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Them to college hoops after three seasons at UCLA, the
last two as a starter. Guard Lundon Jones, who led
the Bruins in three point makes last season, has committed
to RIVEC via the transfer portal. Teammate Janiah Barker, who
spent two seasons with Texas A and m before joining
the Bruins last year, has committed to Tennessee out of
(02:09):
the Transfer Portal. UCLA also saw its entire freshman class
enter the portal following the season, so it'll be a
new look bruined squad trying to make another Final Four run.
Next March to golf, where the LPGA's first major of
the season begins today the Chevron Championship at the Club
at Carlton Woods in the Woodlands, Texas. Play begins at
eight fifteen am Eastern today and teeing off at nine
(02:31):
thirty two am Eastern. Is the marquee group of defending
champ Nellie Corda and past Chevron winners Lily Avou and
Patty Taviatankt. The one hundred and thirty two player field
is playing for a seven point nine million dollar perse,
with the winner collecting one point two million and the
right to jump into the pond post victory, a celebration
that began with winner Amy Alcott in nineteen eighty eight
(02:52):
and became an annual tradition starting in nineteen ninety four,
carrying over from Rancho Mirage where the event used to
be to the Woodlands, when the tournament moved in twenty
twenty three. You can watch it all on the Golf
Channel beginning at ten am Eastern today and tomorrow, and
NBC on Saturday and Sunday starting at three pm Eastern.
ESPN Plus is also going to have featured coverage today
and tomorrow starting at nine am Eastern, and Saturday and
(03:13):
Sunday beginning at eight thirty am Eastern.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Finally, in hockey, it's official.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
The PWHL announced on Wednesday they'll be expanding the league
with a team in Vancouver, British Columbia. That team will
start play this fall, joining the original six teams for
the twenty twenty five to twenty six season. The team
will operate as PWHL Vancouver until the permanent brand identity
is announced, but we do know that the team colors
will be Pacific Blue and cream slices. I'm back from
(03:41):
New York, where not only did I meet the Queen
Ellie the Elephant at the Deep Blue Business of Women's
Sports Summit linked to our selfie in the show notes,
I also moderated a great panel about growth and innovation
with folks from Unrivaled together Athletes, Unlimited Softball, the NHRA,
and Relo Metrics. Really learned a ton from those folks
about they're innovating. I also got to hear Lauren and
(04:02):
Siata Bett's chat about playing together at UCLA next year.
I saw Azy Fudd and Sue Byrd talk about Yukon's
title run this year, and watched a panel of New
York Liberty execs share the secrets to their championship season. Plus,
I absolutely marveled over Chelsea Clinton's thoughtfulness, insight, and impressive vocabulary.
I need to start using subsumes in everyday conversation like
(04:24):
she does. There were so many other great panels throughout
the day. Lots of friends of the show were there,
including the Valkyrie, Jess Smith, Moulach Kicks, Natalie White, the GISTs,
Ellen Hyslop, and US women's national team legend Brianna Scurry.
And it was really cool to get to see a
bunch of fellow iHeart Women's Sports Network podcast hosts, Carrie Champion,
mel Reed, Ashlyn Harris, Christina Williams, Treika Foster, Brasby, Aj Andrews,
(04:47):
Renee Stubbs, the whole gang was there. Speaking of those podcasts,
by the way, a little teaser keeping here out for
next week's episodes, because we'll be helping you get to
know some of those other pods. What was really cool
about the event was it was a year ago this
week that I was on stage with Laura Currny of
Deep Blue, Sue Bird, and Gail Trouberman of iHeart to
announce the launch of our iHeart Women's Sports Network and
(05:10):
I crunch the numbers, and in the year since we announced,
we have launched fifteen podcasts, we've quadrupled women's sports coverage
across Iheart's broadcast radio network, provided more than six hundred
hours of content, reached seventy five million fans, And personally,
not only have I done almost two hundred podcasts with
our little crew here a Good Game with Sarah Spain,
(05:31):
but I've done over eight hundred women's sports reports, three
times daily updates that run on all of Iheart's five
hundred broadcast radio stations across the country. So when you
multiply those by three times a day across all those stations,
that's forty thousand updates where people with no choice have
heard about the WNBA, the NWSLPWHL, the Olympics, and so
much more right alongside their weather and traffic, and right
(05:53):
alongside the updates about men's sports, which we love because
for decades we have just been driving our cars told
about what men are doing, and now all over the
country people are hearing about what women are doing in
sports as well. So shout out to that conference and
shout out to one year since we launched the network.
It's just it's been a really fun year. We're going
(06:14):
to take a quick break when we come back. It's
Megan Klingenberg. Last week I caught up with her and
her Pomeranians, who you can hear occasionally in the interview stick.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Around joining us now.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
She's a former member of the US women's national team,
a World Cup champion, two time NWSL champion, and two
time NWSL shield winner. She played her college ball at UNC,
played pro for multiple teams in the WPS in Sweden
and then in the NWSL, playing for the Houston Dash
for a season before finding a home with the Portland
Thorns and playing there from twenty sixteen till twenty twenty four.
She's a co founder of lifestyle brand Reinc. A black
(06:52):
belt in taekwondo, a self proclaimed decaf latte connoisseur, and
Sudoku master. Her love language is French fries, but she
ain't salty. It's Meghan Klingenberg.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Hi, Cling, Hi, Sarah, how you doing.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
I'm good. Nice to see you too long?
Speaker 3 (07:10):
I know.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Can I just tell you how often? So this wouldn't
take people behind the scenes briefly. So I met Cling
at the US women's national team player's ball, but it
was like a whole fun couple days of events before that.
We were going to see the national team play in
New York friendly before the gala, and when we first met,
we were chatting and I'm like, I'm pretty sure this
(07:30):
is Megan Klingenberg, but I wasn't sure. And then at
some point I said something really dumb about like, oh,
the national team, like did you ever play?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
And it was like me trying to figure out if
you were you?
Speaker 1 (07:40):
And then you were so humble like yeah, I'd play
a little, and I was like, I look like an asshole.
I should have been like very sure that it was her,
and then now I look like someone who didn't know
that she was really great and played for the national team.
And then I like literally thought about it multiple times
since then, like every time you pop on my social
I'm like, oh, I bet she thinks I'm such an asshole.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
But then we ung out for a couple of days
and I was like, we're cool. Even though I you know,
you're just so little.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Everyone's too little to me for me to think that
they're the person that they are. That is like amazing
because I'm just so tall and you're so tiny.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
You know what, I actually do get that a lot.
I feel like a lot of people like Pinot and
Press and Sophia Smith, like they can't go on to
the radar. They just kind of stick out when they're
walking around town. But nobody expects this teeny tiny little
body to be able to do what it did. So
I just had to just like squeeze through crowds and
(08:36):
I just go to places where people are they don't
even notice that. They kind of think that I'm in
high school or something.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
It's a nice problem to have as you get older.
Maybe not when you're younger and you want people to
respect you, but as you're older, you're like, oh I
look extremely young.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Oh thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
You parted ways with Portland at the end of last season,
and you posted to social in part quote this isn't
the ending I wanted, but it's the ending that I chose,
and as every athlete knows, getting to choose your ending
is a rare gift. I'm excited for what's next and
wherever I end up, I'll carry Portland with me.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Didn't sound like a retirement at the time, was it.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Well, I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. Right now,
I'm just kind of like enjoying life and just kind
of seeing what life without soccer feels like. I feel
like the end of Portland wasn't really that fun. It
wasn't really what it had been for all of the
(09:34):
years that I had been playing there. I feel like
a lot of things had changed and the culture just
became completely different, and it was hard because we built
this culture over six seven, eight years and then it
(09:55):
shifted and it felt like I wasn't meant to be
a part of that culture anymore, or be a part
of that group, or be a part of that future.
Which is fine, those things happen, you know, especially two
athletes who are on the other side of thirty five.
(10:20):
But I just feel like it just wasn't really a
space for me to be my authentic self anymore. It
wasn't a space for me to feel joy, and it
wasn't a space for me to play freely, and so
I just knew that it wasn't really the spot that
(10:40):
I needed to be in anymore. And regardless of where
I end up, or if I retire or if I
keep playing, I just knew that that wasn't where I
wanted to be. And so I made the decision, a
very hard decision, that that wasn't someplace where I was
gonna invest my time anymore.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
You know, I was watching an interview with you last
year with Attacking Third, and it was sort of an
innocuous question about what music you've been listening to, and
you said Chapel Rone.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
You said you've been listening to her for a while.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
You're an og Chapel head, but you were very good
about embracing the newbies that were starting to love her too.
You weren't being a hipster about it. You were welcoming
us all to the Chapel Roan party, but you got
deep into it. And you said that last season her
music helped you get to a place where you could
dance again, that when you're not dancing and singing, people
should check in on you. You do have this incredible
(11:35):
light about you that I imagine if it's darkened, people notice.
And I'd love to hear you talk about that, particularly
because I think the power of certain music and maybe
artists that make you feel seen is really incredible. Why
did you need that last year and how did it
arrive for you when you needed it?
Speaker 3 (11:50):
I always need music in my life. It's something that
I don't know if you get this feeling. Apparently there's
only a certain percentage of people that get this fear.
I was reading about it the other day, but it's like,
if a song really sits with you and it it
makes you feel something, then you get chills. Does that
(12:11):
happen to you?
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Yeah? Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
I literally have sent my bestdie my concert wife that
article because it says people who get the goosebumps or
chill bumps or have awe. I cry a lot at concerts,
Oh totally, just like I get so overwhelmed by how
happy I am and how much like it means to
me that I cry. When I first started dating, my
husband was like, uh you okay. I'm like, oh yeah,
(12:33):
you'll get used to this. I do this a lot.
That's amazing, But yeah, that article said that it's actually
really good for health outcomes, that they're not entirely sure why,
but that people who genuinely and regularly experience awe at
the world, particularly things like music, have better general health
across multiple different indicators.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
I'm like, yes, please, I send it to my friend
and we're like we're good. Yeah, love that.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
I I think just last year there was a lot
of stress and anxiety that I really haven't felt playing
soccer in a very long time since I was very young,
and like trying to prove myself, and those anxiety and
stress feelings were really compounding to the point where I
(13:22):
wasn't really wanting to show up to training or to
go to soccer, which by the way, is a first
for me. Ever, the thing that I love most about
the game is showing up to practice and hanging out
with my friends and having fun and bopping the ball
as fast as we can go into the weight room,
like just hanging out, and that's what brings me the
most joy in soccer, and so I wasn't getting that
(13:45):
last year. And when you're not getting that day after
day after day from something that previously brought you so
much joy, it became like compounded each day that you
went like it became harder and harder and harder to go.
(14:08):
So I decided that I needed to look into this
more and to figure out what brings me joy besides soccer.
And I've been really good about that in the past,
but soccer has been relatively easy for me throughout my
career in the last ten years. Of course, there's been setbacks.
(14:31):
Of course there's been heartbreaks, of course there's been losses,
but overall, it's been such a nourishing and beautiful journey
that I've felt so grateful for it. And just in
the past year that completely flipped, and so I was
just starting to really lean into the other things in
life that brought me joy, and one of those was music.
(14:55):
And that's how Chapel Rowan came to be. And I
just been bopping to her and turning the jams up
as loud as I could. And one of the things
that it helped me realize, which was actually quite profound
for me. I don't know if it would be profound
for everybody else, but what was profound for me is
that I realized that soccer never brought me joy. It
(15:17):
was always me bringing me joy and that soccer was
just a vehicle for me to bring out my own joy.
So that was a really big moment for me, and
Chapel helped me discover that. And so that's kind of
what I was getting into with the attacking third. I'm
not entirely sure that that came across in that interview
(15:39):
because I don't think that I fully recognized what was
happening yet. But now after reflection and time and space,
I'm able to put a name to it, is that, yes,
this is what happened. I was able to have this
realization and it's actually made it gosh, it's helped me
(16:01):
like bring about a sense of peace.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Back even in early twenty twenty three, you posted about
getting your championship rings with the Thorns, and the caption
was very simple. It was a couple of all your
you and your teammates on the right carpet showing off
the new rings, and you just said joy equal success.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
So it feels like.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
You've kind of known all along that it wasn't soccer
necessarily or winning that was success, but the process of
doing it and how it made you feel doing it.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
Totally one of my coaches. His name's Jason Goldsmith, and
I've been working with him for a while now. He
works with a bunch of PGA players and stuff like
that on the mental game, and he's taught me how
to meditate and what meditation means and how it can
help you with sport in general and life in general.
(16:54):
And that's his go to saying, which I've totally stolen
and he has given approval of it. But yeah, joy
equals success is kind of my motto now, And even
when I have soccer camps for kids, I make sure
that they know that the number one thing is that
we're having fun, and that anywhere that we can have
(17:16):
fun means that we're being successful. And then I think
there's also the other side to it too, is that
when you are having fun, it probably will lead to success.
So it's kind of a double edged thing. Joy in
itself is a success, but also joy leads to success
in the field that you want. Because you're having so
(17:38):
much fun, how could you not be successful at it?
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Yeah, you're probably playing free or and bringing your full
self and all of that. I remember learning about this
concept you diamonea. It was from Aristotle and it was
like the ultimate flourishing in life comes from a state
of happiness, Like it's distinct from like a simple pleasure.
It's like basically just like thriving, just like flourishing. And
I think about it a lot, because for some people,
(18:02):
happiness is not their ultimate goal. It's something else, and
then they hope they're happy as a result of that.
And mine has always been happiness, like will that make
me happier? Or will it make me richer? If it
makes me richer but not happier than I'm not taking it,
If it makes me this but not happier that I'm
not taking it, and so I feel like joy happiness
like same vibe, which has really served me too. I
(18:23):
wonder being on the older side on the Portland Thorns
team and understanding how much younger people are getting better
at talking about mental health, about knowing their identity isn't
just their job or their work, compared to some of
us that had to learn that much older. When you
were thinking about your unhappiness there and trying to figure
(18:43):
out why you were waking up in this rut, did
you talk to your younger teammates at all about this
idea of joy or trying to figure out if they
had figured something out that maybe you needed to circle
back around and find out at an older age.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Well, I was always talking to them about different things
and just checking in with them, whether it was about
Love Island, USA, which we were all obsessed with and
oh my gosh, I love that, or whether it's you know,
just in general, checking in, seeing how they're doing after
a match, after a loss, after a win, going to
(19:18):
get coffee. I really tried to connect with a lot
of different people on the team in different ways. And
I was really proud of myself because while I wasn't
being successful on the field, because I wasn't on the field,
I felt like I had a really successful season off
the field and felt like I had a really big
(19:40):
impact on the group outside of the pitch. And that
made me really proud because while I had done that
before as a leader, I had to basically put aside
my ego this year and figure out how to still
help the group. And don't get me wrong, there was
a lot of time where I couldn't put it aside,
(20:02):
and that's okay because that's what makes me me and
that's what helped me become successful at this sport was
believing in myself and telling everybody to get the fuck
out of my way if they're you're not going to
help me, you know. And sometimes there's just nothing that
you can do, regardless of how well you're playing, or
(20:22):
how good of a teammate you are, or how much
you know, how good of a performance you're putting in
in any of your minutes, it just doesn't matter sometimes,
And it's sometimes because you're not good enough. Sometimes it's
because the coach just doesn't think that you're going to
give the team what it needs. Sometimes you just don't
(20:44):
fit the picture. There's a bunch of different reasons why
it doesn't add up, and it's not all because you're unworthy.
And I think that one of the things that people
our age have a hard time with, at least the
friend that I'm around, is that if we fail, or
if we're not doing something the way that everybody else is,
(21:06):
or we're not completing our goals on this timeline that
we have in our heads, that were unworthy and that's
just not true. And you know, just talking to people
about that and talking through kind of just feelings of
being on the bench and feelings of getting older was
(21:30):
really interesting this year because I could tell that my
teammates really loved me because they were just so compassionate
and caring and really landed an ear whenever I needed it.
And that was kind of a flip from before when
I hadn't had to have these type of conversations in
a season. So I really appreciate them doing that. I
(21:53):
don't think they even realize how big of a impact
and how big of like, how how special that was
to do for somebody. So I truly appreciate that. And
so no, I don't think that I necessarily spoke to
them specifically like hey, have you, you know, tell me
(22:13):
about this, but just talking to them in general and
was just really eye opening and it's nice to feel
cared for. And they did make me for sure, and
that's pretty much the biggest thing you can do for
somebody that you're working with or friends with.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
What about the opposite direction, because it feels like you
got to this sort of inevitable but unenviable.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Position of like, oh, is this is this the end?
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Like am I Am? I done with what I'm supposed
to do here? Even if I don't want to be
or I don't feel ready to be. I'm not used
to being on the bench. I'm not used to not
being the person that's leading, you know, with my play,
did you talk to older folks, either recently retired or
compatriots who are considering retirement to figure out if what
you were feeling was like a nudge out or you
needed to push through and think about it longer.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
I didn't talk to anybody who had already been retired.
It was more talking to Becky a lot, who's my
best friend.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
And Becky sower Brun.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
Yeah, yeah, sorry, I just assume everybody's Becky with the
good hair. Yeah. So, Becky sour Brun is my best friend,
and we sat next to each other in the lockers.
We hang out all the time. We lived in the
same place and we'd just been friends for a long time.
We talked about it a lot. Talked about it a
lot with Sinki, who did know that she was retiring.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Christine Sinclair, Yep.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Sorry, you can do this. You can't do it that, okay, okay?
And yeah, my coach Jason, and just chatting through with
my partner Ingrid and just making sure that I was
getting all of those feelings out. And one of the
(23:59):
things that I did in this new year that I
wasn't able to do when I was in the actual
situation was kind of let go. And what I realized
was that the letting like I was scared to let go,
and I was like, oh, I didn't even realize that
(24:21):
that was the part that was actually hurting me. And
once I did do it, it was like this huge
relief and I could actually move forward and start to
explore new opportunities and new environments. But it wasn't really
(24:42):
the soccer that was holding me back, like, oh, I
want to keep playing, but they're pushing me out, you know,
like those thoughts go through your head. But what ended
up really being it wasn't the soccer. It was it
was the me of still holy onto something that just
wasn't for me anymore. And once I did let it go, Wow,
(25:07):
it was just such a relief and a completely different feeling.
And I just feel like a completely different person than
I did than even like four or five months ago.
And it's just freeing to note that. But it's also
just so hard to get to that point.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Yeah, I have a lot of people in my life
in the last couple of years, myself included at certain
points where it's like, even if you know that maybe
the thing isn't for you anymore, if it's the thing
you've always known, going away from it means you have
to find out what the new thing is, and that's terrifying.
Even if you're not perfectly happy or things aren't right
(25:46):
where you are. It's like there's a saying, I think
it's the misery of I'm gonna forget it, but it's
essentially like you'd rather have the misery of what you
know than the uncomfortableness of what you don't or something
like that.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Correct, But yeah, I think I think a lot of
people go through that.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
You know.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
I have to ask, are there any parallels for you
to the end of your national career, because I imagine
you felt like you had more to offer there that
you weren't ready to say goodbye to that yet.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Either.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
You played a lot of minutes at the twenty sixteen Olympics,
you played kind of sparingly in twenty seventeen, and you
didn't get a call up after that, but you were
only thirty years old. You had so much else that
you could have done with that team. You refocused and
set goals for the NWSL. You've had years of a
great career after your national team career ended, But did
you feel that way at all in that moment as well?
(26:32):
Where you had to get to a point where you
could close the door on that and be okay that
that wasn't for you anymore totally.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
And it took me a long time to be able
to let that go. It took me way longer to
be able to like let go my national team dreams.
And I was really bitter for a long time about it,
mainly because I had an injury that went undiagnosed or
(26:58):
misdiagnosed for a long time, and because of that, I
was playing through injury when I shouldn't have been and
needed a surgery, And because of that, my play was
not up to the standard that it usually was, and
so that got held against me, and that sucks, but
that's also life. So I held onto that for a
(27:21):
really long time, and I don't really think that I
got over that until I met Jason and really started
working through like a lot of my stuff and was
able to be more in the moment and enjoy what
I have. And when I started doing that, I saw
my play kind of take this leap that I haven't
seen it take in a long time, and that was
(27:44):
really cool. And I kind of realigned all of my
goals and all of the things that I wanted to
do with soccer and with my life and realized that
there was a few things that were really important for me,
and none of them were about winning, and none of
them were about being on the national team.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Yeah, that's wild when that happens. Huh uh huh.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Yeah. So so then I think because I went through
that experience, this experience with the Thorns, it wasn't easier,
but I was able to get to a point where
I was okay faster because I had a coping mechanism
(28:26):
and I had people in my life that could really help,
and I was able to see the blessings as opposed
to all of the row the so called wrongs that
were perpetrated against me, you know, at my age, things
that I have. So yeah, And and one thing that
(28:49):
I also realized too is that, like you know, I'm
left back, right, and I've been left back on the
Thorns for nine seasons, and eight of them I started
every single game that I was available, and that was
my position. But what I realized is that it's not
minus nobody's you know, it's not anybody's it. Eventually, even
(29:14):
if I kept playing and I played till forty five,
somebody else is going to play that position eventually, and
it's not theirs. You know, it doesn't belong to anybody.
It's not mine. And I think that I had this like, oh,
it's something to lose, it's something to lose. But it
was never mine in the first.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Place, right, right, And you weren't owed it either, So
when it wasn't yours, then it wasn't a persecution. It
was a decision rather right or wrong, but just a decision,
and the result was that you weren't playing there anymore.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
It's really hard to work through, especially when you're in it,
and especially when you feel like the culture is not
exactly you know, what you spent all of your time building.
And regardless, I I just feel like I do feel
like with players who are getting older, who are injured,
who maybe aren't going to make the level that they
(30:10):
need to, we need a bit more compassion for them
because they have put their heart and soul into this.
And I think that players all they deserve is respect
and honesty, and I feel like if we give them that,
they may still be upset, but it's something that they
(30:32):
will be able to live with because that's just like,
that's just the way that it is. But I feel
like when people get uncomfortable, they start telling like not
lies necessarily, but they'll frame it in a way that
seems really rosy, but it's just not the way that
it is. And I think that, you know, to get
(30:53):
the best out of our athletes, we need to be
upfront with them and allow them to go through through
those feelings. Allow them to be angry with the situation
with you if they need to be, and then work
through it. That's just life, and that will allow them
to be their best selves and it will allow the
team to be its best because if we just don't
(31:17):
allow them to go through that process, then they're going
to be stuck in perpetuity just being bitter or just
being mad.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
Well to your point too, the moments that you couldn't
get past your ego, you weren't that helpful to the team,
But when you were able to accept the situation as
for what it was, then you could find a way
to be someone who is additive even from the bench.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
So if you're transparent with people.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
And they know their new role and can learn to
embrace it, they can still add something. But if they're
in a state of confusion or anger, they don't feel
like they're being communicated with, they're probably not given much
back other than energy.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
That's bad for everybody else, correct, Yeah, and some.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
People can still overcome that because they just want to
be good for the team. But why like, let's help them,
Let's help everybody, regardless of their on field contributions, because
quite frankly, everybody on that team is going to make
it successful or not, whether they're playing or not.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
You know, you keep talking about the culture there. Do
you think it has more to do with just the
changing makeup of the roster. Do you think it's ownership?
Do you think it's something that should still be addressed
for the players there now or just wasn't a fit
for you, Like if you were in charge over there,
would you be addressing the stuff that you didn't think
was working right last year for the current team.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
Let me first say that I think the players were great.
I think that it was a great locker room. I
think people absolutely put their heart and soul into it.
I think that they were respectful and kind to one another,
and I really enjoyed being around all the players on
the team, so let's put them out there first. But
(33:02):
I do think though, that clearly something wasn't working because
that team had so much talent and we ended up
being the lowest finish I think in the history of
the club. So I would immediately address that. And I
(33:23):
do think it is a culture issue. I think there
was a really difficult transition from the old owners to
the new owners, and I think that the things that
I wanted to prioritize was not something that the people
(33:44):
were in charge wanted to prioritize. And I don't think
that the things that they want to prioritize will make
them successful, but that's my.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
Opinion, and what kind of things.
Speaker 3 (33:57):
I think that people are more interested then creating a
brand that's going to be like successful and is going
to be like world renown, which is great, that's great,
but I think that that comes from the team doing well.
(34:17):
And I think that comes from the team being taken
care of and playing with joy and playing with freedom,
and like creating an environment where they can be themselves
and like be their best selves. And I think it's
about finding players. Like we had great players in the team,
but I just think sometimes the way that they wanted
(34:41):
certain players to play didn't fit who they were, and
then they were trying to play the way that somebody
else wanted them to play, which happens all the time, right,
But that doesn't mean that they're going to be the
best that they can be because they're just not in
a space to be. But they need so.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Yeah, or you can get buy in for a different
style and a different approach, but then people have to
really be sold on why they're doing it and trust
you and want to follow you. And then if it's
not exactly what they would normally do, they could still
thrive in it if they believe in it, but you
have to get there absolutely.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
And then I just think that if the player isn't
the one that you need to be in that system,
then you need to communicate that to them and then
bring in the player that is going to be the
one that fits in that system. Because I know when
we were successful, like in twenty twenty one with Mark
(35:38):
Parsons and that group that was playing there, we were
incredibly talented and there was also other teams in the
world that probably had more talent that we did, but
we were all so bought into what we were doing,
the culture, the tactics, how we were going to go
about it, and if something wasn't working, we would all
(36:00):
work together to be able to fix that. And we
were given that platform to like work on it and
problem solve together. And that was one of the things
that I was like so like most proud of building.
And then I just feel like that wasn't the way
(36:23):
that it was going to be moving forward.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Right, we got to take a quick break more with
Kling after this. So you're out now with you know,
might join another team, might be done.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
You're figuring it all out. But you've got got this
quality about you. You're a natural.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
Leader, you're entertainer, You fight for others, you stand up
for the queer community.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
You have all this vibe. You have tons of vibes
and energy. Bud you do you do?
Speaker 1 (36:58):
You just bring, like like you said, joy to every
where you go, even in talking about deep and hard things.
It's joyful when someone could share that part of themselves
because it makes other people feel understood and scenes. So
where are you going to bring all that good stuff
in the next stage of life, where do you want
to shine that light?
Speaker 3 (37:14):
That's the question, isn't it. That's the question. I told
my partner Ingrid. She's wonderful, by the way. I need
to give her a shout out because she's just the best.
But she started her own business, the New Savant, and
it's Fragrant Business, and it's just been really fun watching
her do that and really inspiring. And anyways, shout out
(37:37):
to Ingrid. That's all I want to say. But for
this next year, I committed to being uncomfortable, and I
decided that I don't want to have any job that
I'm going to lock myself into when I'm just not
ready for that yet. And so I I'm just trying
(38:00):
a bunch of stuff. This is the year that I'm
going to explore. I'm doing media, I'm trying coaching, I'm
trying all kinds of different stuff playing and basically, I
just really want to figure out something like soccer that
makes me tick, that really gets me up in the morning,
(38:21):
something that helps me move towards my why, and that
will be That's just what I'm going to be doing
this year is kind of figuring that out. And I
actually just went to Italy. My family is from there,
and I was I went totally solo, just by myself,
(38:42):
two weeks in Rome and Naples and Florence, and I
was calling it my eight Gay Love Tour, and I
I just was like eating a bunch of pasta and
pizza and drinking apparel spritzes and talking to people. All
I did was talk to people, because even when I'm alone,
(39:06):
I loved chatting with people. And so I booked all
of these tours by myself and just really stepped into
that of comfortableness and just made friends on all these
tours and got their Instagram handles and their emails and
their everything, and so it was really nice because what
I realized, and I've known this all along, but sometimes
(39:28):
it's hard when you're just seeing this constant negative news,
is that people are kind and people want community and
people want to connect, and so it was really nice
to connect with people.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
I would watch that show, by the way, you know,
Eat Gay Love.
Speaker 1 (39:45):
If you make a digital show called Eat Gay Love
and you just go around the world and you're like
everybody's favorite queer, that's like.
Speaker 2 (39:51):
Hey, let me go somewhere where they might not like
me up too bad? You like me?
Speaker 3 (39:55):
You like me?
Speaker 2 (39:58):
I would watch that. Yeah, just weird full gave great Sarah.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
But I'm not going to North Korea.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
No, No, I think there are some places we can
cross off the list and we will provide you with
a really big bodyguard just in case people are like, Nope,
we still don't like.
Speaker 3 (40:15):
To the friendly places.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
If you don't start there, let's start there.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
You know you mentioned media though you had your show
My New Favorite Football lista podcast that you hosted for
NBC Sports. First, I want to just ask, like, what
made you want to tell stories the way you did?
You really got into things like cancer and grief and
mental health. When you were approached with the idea of
doing a show, did you offer up that that's how
you wanted to do it.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
Well. The thing about NBC that was so great is
that they were so collaborative, and so I wasn't the
official host. They were looking at a couple different people,
and I was like, going on this call, am I agent?
He's awesome. He presented it as like I already got
(41:02):
this job, but I didn't, and so I thought that
I had the job. I show up on this call
with all these NBC execs and producers and everything, and
I'm like spouting off all these ideas of what we
should do and how we should do it. They were like,
this is great, this is so great. So meanwhile, it
(41:23):
could have like totally gone to another person and I
would have just given them all of these ideas. I
feel like that kind of shows you, like when you
really commit to something and you're not trying to gatekeep
that things can't really work out for you, which they did.
And it was so fun because when you are a
(41:46):
celebrity in the soccer space, in a sports space, people
think only of you in that space. They don't think
of you as this multifaceted person who has wants and
dreams and cares and that are totally separate from soccer.
And we wanted to show that, and I thought we
(42:06):
did a really great job showcasing people's the things that
they were they cared about most outside of the game,
and the things that meant the most to them, and
really showed such a human side of who they are.
And it was really wonderful, especially doing ones with my friends,
especially seeing them open up in ways that they haven't
(42:30):
on camera and in public spaces or haven't felt comfortable doing.
And I felt like I was able to provide a
safe space where they were able to do that. And
watching open up in that way and talk about her
grief and talk about mental health because that's something that
she cared about because of her friend was really beautiful.
(42:53):
And I actually have had people come up to me
and say, hey, we've played your podcast. We've played your
episode with Sophie Smith to our whole entire team because
they've been struggling with mental health health and we needed
a way to show them that it's okay to talk
about these things. Everybody goes through this, even people that
(43:16):
are older, even people that you think have the world
by the yes. And that was one of the coolest
things that I never expected, having people come up and
say that and felt like, we really need an impact
that way you did.
Speaker 2 (43:30):
Is the show coming back?
Speaker 3 (43:32):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
I mean, I think theres just like you.
Speaker 3 (43:36):
I think that the NBC will do the show again.
Will I be the host? I'm not sure. I'd love
to be the host again. I had such a blast
doing that. But let's see, fingers crossed.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
Just show up again, act as if you already got
the job.
Speaker 3 (43:50):
I should, I really should.
Speaker 1 (43:52):
We're running out of time, but I have a couple
of last things that I really quickly want to ask
you about. So I know you founded re Ink with Tobinheath,
Kristen Press, and Meghan Rapino, or you still have involved
in that or working in that.
Speaker 3 (44:02):
You know, it's really Kristin and Tobin that are doing
the heavy lifting. I'm still on the board and I
help out in a lot of like high level ways
in that space. But no, I'm not doing as much
heavy lifting as I was at the beginning. But that's okay.
I think they're doing a great job and it really
hasn't Like I realized that clothing wasn't really the thing
(44:24):
that was inspiring to me, and it was for them,
and so it felt like a really smart thing to
do was have them be at the front pushing it
forward because it's the thing that they cared about the most.
Speaker 1 (44:37):
Yeah, we recently had Christine Sinclair on the show to
talk about Canada's new pro league, the NSL, longtime teammate
of yours, one of the greats. I need you to
quickly tell us about when you almost ruined your friendship
over a spilled Margarita in a runaway golf cart.
Speaker 3 (44:52):
Okay, Sarah, that was so fun. We still talk about
it all the time. She still holds it against me.
I don't care. There's this golf tournament that the Timbers
did that was kind of a co branded thing where
it was a stand together at golf event where people
would go and then they pay to play, and then
(45:15):
obviously that money goes to the charity and they get
paired with certain people or whatever. And so me and
Sinkie were in the same pairing and we were having
such a blest. We I don't know how I ended
up being the person that was the golf card driver,
but I was, and it was incredible. So we saw
(45:37):
we were only playing nine holes, but we ended up
playing eighteen, and we drank as if we were playing
nine holes instead of eighteen, which, as you can imagine,
is a real issue. So we got them ore and
by the way, everybody was buying our drinks. I don't
think I'd bought one drink while I was there, So they.
Speaker 2 (46:00):
Don't count if you don't pay for them.
Speaker 1 (46:01):
So that's probably why you had too many, because you
weren't counting.
Speaker 3 (46:04):
I never said too many. I just said, oh.
Speaker 2 (46:07):
Right, I'm so sorry. Yes, an appropriate amount for nine holes, you're.
Speaker 3 (46:11):
Right and inappropriate. Yeah, and it was an inappropriate amount whatever. Anyway,
so we have our Margarita's in hand, and I decided,
I think on the ninth hole, that I was gonna
drive a little bit crazy. And so we got a
little lost on our way to the ninth hole, and
(46:31):
I had to make some quick maneuvers to get us
back on track. So what happened was we started going
down this hill and I didn't realize that there was
there was a path, but I didn't realize there was
what are those on the side.
Speaker 1 (46:51):
Like the little flags that tell you you're not supposed
to drive there.
Speaker 3 (46:54):
No, it was more like like the stones that.
Speaker 2 (46:57):
Like okay, right, like like.
Speaker 3 (46:59):
We're sidewalk is like, you know, the curb, the curb.
There was a curbb So I'm coming down this hill
and like we're going way faster than the golf cart
should actually go because we're going down a hill. So
we hit the first one and it's like and our
Margarita's are like you know, and it's like whoa, but
(47:20):
it goes back in. Then we hit the second curb
and it wasn't shinkx Margarita, but it was my own
Margarita that's spilled on Sink's lap. And I was and
I was like, oh my god, and I'm laughing so
hard and she is so pissed. But I could not
even keep in my laughter. I couldn't. And I think
(47:43):
that she got extra mad because I couldn't stop.
Speaker 1 (47:46):
Laughing right right, And she had nine holes with Margarita
lap also, But I I.
Speaker 3 (47:54):
Got her another Margarita.
Speaker 2 (47:57):
That wasn't the problem. I don't think totally. Well, I
think that was the problem, but it was a problem.
Speaker 3 (48:03):
But then that the next Margarita made her forget it.
Speaker 1 (48:06):
Okay, good, along with other things. Okay, last question for
you very quickly. I could not believe I had not
heard this before. But when you were with the Dash,
the team had a host family program and you and
Morgan Brian lived with Jeff van Gundy and his family.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
This is mind blowing to meet Jeff van Gundy.
Speaker 1 (48:21):
For those not familiar, like longtime NBA coach broadcaster, I'm
obsessed with his brother Stan. I don't know Jeff as much,
but Stan is just the best guy. I need one
good story from living with Jeff van Gundy and his family.
Speaker 3 (48:34):
Oh my god, there's so many good stories. But I
guess the thing that would just bring it all together
is that we would have pancakes Sundays and literally every Sunday,
we would just make pancakes together. And uh, just I
would be in charge of the bacon because that's when
I ate meat, So I would be in charge of
(48:54):
the bacon. I would make it extra crispy for everyone.
Kim has wife would be in charge of the pancakes,
and Jeff would be in charge of eating everything.
Speaker 2 (49:06):
What was Morgan doing nothing was.
Speaker 3 (49:08):
Maybe cutting the fruit.
Speaker 2 (49:10):
Okay, okay, good job, somebody needs that job.
Speaker 1 (49:13):
I just I already liked him, but the idea that
he and his family would host women soccer players and
I presume a nice mansion because he'd been a very
successful coach, Like, that's that's very nice.
Speaker 2 (49:25):
How long did you live there?
Speaker 3 (49:27):
I lived there almost two years? To be fair, they're
very Yeah, they're very down to earth people. They're just
so kind. We still keep in touch.
Speaker 2 (49:36):
Good family, really good family, and fun.
Speaker 3 (49:39):
They're really fun, very fun.
Speaker 2 (49:41):
I can only imagine.
Speaker 1 (49:42):
Also, if anyone wants to know what the NWSL was like,
in the early years, professional women athletes were living in
the family home of random people because of the amount
of money for housing and whatnot. Anyway, Megan, I mean literally,
I could talk to you forever. I've already taken up
way too much of your time, but it's so fun
to catch up.
Speaker 2 (50:01):
I'm so excited to see what you do next.
Speaker 1 (50:03):
But no, Rush, I think you should be writing down notes,
by the way, all year about your adventures and explorations.
Really take an exploratory, scientific approach to like when am
I happiest, am I around people or not? Am I
traveling or not? Am I creative or not? And that'll
help you, you know, figure out what's next.
Speaker 3 (50:20):
Thank you so much, and I will take all the
advice I can get from somebody definitely who's been through it,
who's done it, and somebody that I respect. So thank
you very much. And it's been really fun being on
the show. Even though you made me talk about hard subjects.
Speaker 2 (50:37):
My bad, you liked it.
Speaker 1 (50:43):
Thanks again to Kling for taking the time, such a
great conversation.
Speaker 2 (50:46):
We got to take another break when we come back.
Speaker 1 (50:48):
A teammate turns trophy wife. Welcome, Max slices quick shout
out to Super Slice. Hey guy Alitzer, who let me
know that I misused the British phrase chuffed in Tuesday show.
Speaker 2 (51:06):
I swear y'all every time I hear it.
Speaker 1 (51:07):
I think it means miffed, but chuffed actually means pleased.
So my apologies to Britz and others who are surely
miffed and definitely not chuffed by my butchering of their vernacular.
And also thank you a guy for the reminder of
two other great British phrases, shambalic which means chaotic and disorganized,
and rgi bargie, which means like quarreling or disagreement between people.
(51:31):
I really need to start using those regularly argie bargie
and shambalic, and of course also subsumed.
Speaker 2 (51:38):
We love that you're.
Speaker 1 (51:38):
Listening, but we always want you to get in the
game every day too, So here's your good gameplay of
the day. Keep sending us your terms for the Good
Game glossary Ahead of episode two hundred, we're gathering all
the terms inside jokes and segments that any new listener
needs to know to get caught up on the show,
so send us what you think must be included. Plus
we want to know what too, and only two episodes
(52:00):
you would recommend to a brand new Slice aka Seedling.
You can also send us any burning questions you have
about how we make the show or anything that goes
on behind the scenes. You got to get them in asap, though,
so email or message me on social by noon today
to make sure we get them. Send us your thoughts
good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or at Spain two
three two three on Insta at Sarah Spain on x
(52:22):
at Sarahspain dot com, on Blue Sky, and.
Speaker 2 (52:26):
Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review.
Speaker 1 (52:28):
It's easy watch Megan Klingenberg's twenty twenty one Halloween costume
rating ten out of ten, absolutely no notes review. In
preparation for our conversation, I did a little deep dive
on Megan's social and yes, I scrolled all the way
back to twenty twenty one. She doesn't post all that
often though, so I'm not a full stage five clinger,
(52:48):
but close anyway. All the scrolling was worth it, y'all,
because she dressed as a dapper old man for Halloween
Caine mustache, giant gray eyebrows, and then teammate Kelly Hubbley
dressed as a gold digging trophy wife, complete with an
actual trophy and the caption for Megan Reid's quote, my
wife of fifty two years passed away six years ago,
(53:10):
and I'm so grateful that Chastity has filled that giant
size hole in my heart end quote, like Midge Purse commented,
not Chastity. It's too good, y'all. We'll post the link
in our show notes so you could check it out.
Now it's your turn, rate and review, come a, give
us five stars, tell us you love us, Thanks for listening.
Speaker 2 (53:28):
See you tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (53:29):
Good game, Cling, good game, daffodils, letting us know springs.
Finally here you people who still think you're in high school.
But then you know, at some point in your mid
twenties when you spot your first forehead wrinkle, and in
your early thirties when the grays start coming in, then
I guess it's thank you. Thank you, people who still
think you're in high school. Good Game with Sarah Spain
(53:53):
is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep
Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the
iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Production by Wonder Media Network. Our producers are Alex Azzie
and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz,
Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rutter,
Britney Martinez and Grace Lynch. Our associate producer is Lucy
(54:15):
Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we finally
got to meet Ellie the Elephant. I showed her a
pick of my Halloween costume. I told her about my splits.
She kissed me with her trunk. We're basically besties now.
Don't be surprised if there's a special guest dancer during
the first Ellie Stomp of the season. It's Thursday, April
twenty fourth, and on today's show will be joined by
(00:20):
World Cup and NWSL champion Megan Klingenberg for a thoughtful
conversation on identity, music and knowing when it's time to
move on. Plus two dreams are hatched with one shovel,
breaking NWSL records with diamonds and a reminder that all plants,
including citrus trees, need a little help to grow.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
That's all coming up right after this. Welcome back, y'all.
Here's what you need to know today.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Instead of starting with a sport, we're going to start
with a place, Portland, Oregon, where earlier this week, ground
was broken on a new training facility that'll be shared
by the NWSL's Portland Thorns and the city's new WNBA
expansion team. Both teams are owned by the Bethal Families
RAJ Sports. The training center is expected to open in
early twenty twenty six, just in time for the Thorns
(01:12):
season and ahead of the yet to be named WNBA
expansion team's debut. A little more dual sports news, the
NWSL's BFC announced that they'll play the Washington Spirit at
Oracle Park, home of the MLB's San Francisco Giants, in August.
BFC could break the NWSL's attendance record if fans show out,
because forty two hundred and sixty fans can cram into
(01:33):
Oracle Park, that's twice as many as BFC's normal venue,
PayPal Park. The current NWSL attendance record was set last
summer when the Chicago Stars played against Bay in front
of thirty five thousand and thirty eight fans at Wrigley Field.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yours truly was one of.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Them to college hoops after three seasons at UCLA, the
last two as a starter. Guard Lundon Jones, who led
the Bruins in three point makes last season, has committed
to RIVEC via the transfer portal. Teammate Janiah Barker, who
spent two seasons with Texas A and m before joining
the Bruins last year, has committed to Tennessee out of
(02:09):
the Transfer Portal. UCLA also saw its entire freshman class
enter the portal following the season, so it'll be a
new look bruined squad trying to make another Final Four run.
Next March to golf, where the LPGA's first major of
the season begins today the Chevron Championship at the Club
at Carlton Woods in the Woodlands, Texas. Play begins at
eight fifteen am Eastern today and teeing off at nine
(02:31):
thirty two am Eastern. Is the marquee group of defending
champ Nellie Corda and past Chevron winners Lily Avou and
Patty Taviatankt. The one hundred and thirty two player field
is playing for a seven point nine million dollar perse,
with the winner collecting one point two million and the
right to jump into the pond post victory, a celebration
that began with winner Amy Alcott in nineteen eighty eight
(02:52):
and became an annual tradition starting in nineteen ninety four,
carrying over from Rancho Mirage where the event used to
be to the Woodlands, when the tournament moved in twenty
twenty three. You can watch it all on the Golf
Channel beginning at ten am Eastern today and tomorrow, and
NBC on Saturday and Sunday starting at three pm Eastern.
ESPN Plus is also going to have featured coverage today
and tomorrow starting at nine am Eastern, and Saturday and
(03:13):
Sunday beginning at eight thirty am Eastern.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Finally, in hockey, it's official.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
The PWHL announced on Wednesday they'll be expanding the league
with a team in Vancouver, British Columbia. That team will
start play this fall, joining the original six teams for
the twenty twenty five to twenty six season. The team
will operate as PWHL Vancouver until the permanent brand identity
is announced, but we do know that the team colors
will be Pacific Blue and cream slices. I'm back from
(03:41):
New York, where not only did I meet the Queen
Ellie the Elephant at the Deep Blue Business of Women's
Sports Summit linked to our selfie in the show notes,
I also moderated a great panel about growth and innovation
with folks from Unrivaled together Athletes, Unlimited Softball, the NHRA,
and Relo Metrics. Really learned a ton from those folks
about they're innovating. I also got to hear Lauren and
(04:02):
Siata Bett's chat about playing together at UCLA next year.
I saw Azy Fudd and Sue Byrd talk about Yukon's
title run this year, and watched a panel of New
York Liberty execs share the secrets to their championship season. Plus,
I absolutely marveled over Chelsea Clinton's thoughtfulness, insight, and impressive vocabulary.
I need to start using subsumes in everyday conversation like
(04:24):
she does. There were so many other great panels throughout
the day. Lots of friends of the show were there,
including the Valkyrie, Jess Smith, Moulach Kicks, Natalie White, the GISTs,
Ellen Hyslop, and US women's national team legend Brianna Scurry.
And it was really cool to get to see a
bunch of fellow iHeart Women's Sports Network podcast hosts, Carrie Champion,
mel Reed, Ashlyn Harris, Christina Williams, Treika Foster, Brasby, Aj Andrews,
(04:47):
Renee Stubbs, the whole gang was there. Speaking of those podcasts,
by the way, a little teaser keeping here out for
next week's episodes, because we'll be helping you get to
know some of those other pods. What was really cool
about the event was it was a year ago this
week that I was on stage with Laura Currny of
Deep Blue, Sue Bird, and Gail Trouberman of iHeart to
announce the launch of our iHeart Women's Sports Network and
(05:10):
I crunch the numbers, and in the year since we announced,
we have launched fifteen podcasts, we've quadrupled women's sports coverage
across Iheart's broadcast radio network, provided more than six hundred
hours of content, reached seventy five million fans, And personally,
not only have I done almost two hundred podcasts with
our little crew here a Good Game with Sarah Spain,
(05:31):
but I've done over eight hundred women's sports reports, three
times daily updates that run on all of Iheart's five
hundred broadcast radio stations across the country. So when you
multiply those by three times a day across all those stations,
that's forty thousand updates where people with no choice have
heard about the WNBA, the NWSLPWHL, the Olympics, and so
much more right alongside their weather and traffic, and right
(05:53):
alongside the updates about men's sports, which we love because
for decades we have just been driving our cars told
about what men are doing, and now all over the
country people are hearing about what women are doing in
sports as well. So shout out to that conference and
shout out to one year since we launched the network.
It's just it's been a really fun year. We're going
(06:14):
to take a quick break when we come back. It's
Megan Klingenberg. Last week I caught up with her and
her Pomeranians, who you can hear occasionally in the interview stick.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Around joining us now.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
She's a former member of the US women's national team,
a World Cup champion, two time NWSL champion, and two
time NWSL shield winner. She played her college ball at UNC,
played pro for multiple teams in the WPS in Sweden
and then in the NWSL, playing for the Houston Dash
for a season before finding a home with the Portland
Thorns and playing there from twenty sixteen till twenty twenty four.
She's a co founder of lifestyle brand Reinc. A black
(06:52):
belt in taekwondo, a self proclaimed decaf latte connoisseur, and
Sudoku master. Her love language is French fries, but she
ain't salty. It's Meghan Klingenberg.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Hi, Cling, Hi, Sarah, how you doing.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
I'm good. Nice to see you too long?
Speaker 3 (07:10):
I know.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Can I just tell you how often? So this wouldn't
take people behind the scenes briefly. So I met Cling
at the US women's national team player's ball, but it
was like a whole fun couple days of events before that.
We were going to see the national team play in
New York friendly before the gala, and when we first met,
we were chatting and I'm like, I'm pretty sure this
(07:30):
is Megan Klingenberg, but I wasn't sure. And then at
some point I said something really dumb about like, oh,
the national team, like did you ever play?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
And it was like me trying to figure out if
you were you?
Speaker 1 (07:40):
And then you were so humble like yeah, I'd play
a little, and I was like, I look like an asshole.
I should have been like very sure that it was her,
and then now I look like someone who didn't know
that she was really great and played for the national team.
And then I like literally thought about it multiple times
since then, like every time you pop on my social
I'm like, oh, I bet she thinks I'm such an asshole.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
But then we ung out for a couple of days
and I was like, we're cool. Even though I you know,
you're just so little.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Everyone's too little to me for me to think that
they're the person that they are. That is like amazing
because I'm just so tall and you're so tiny.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
You know what, I actually do get that a lot.
I feel like a lot of people like Pinot and
Press and Sophia Smith, like they can't go on to
the radar. They just kind of stick out when they're
walking around town. But nobody expects this teeny tiny little
body to be able to do what it did. So
I just had to just like squeeze through crowds and
(08:36):
I just go to places where people are they don't
even notice that. They kind of think that I'm in
high school or something.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
It's a nice problem to have as you get older.
Maybe not when you're younger and you want people to
respect you, but as you're older, you're like, oh I
look extremely young.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Oh thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
You parted ways with Portland at the end of last season,
and you posted to social in part quote this isn't
the ending I wanted, but it's the ending that I chose,
and as every athlete knows, getting to choose your ending
is a rare gift. I'm excited for what's next and
wherever I end up, I'll carry Portland with me.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Didn't sound like a retirement at the time, was it.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Well, I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. Right now,
I'm just kind of like enjoying life and just kind
of seeing what life without soccer feels like. I feel
like the end of Portland wasn't really that fun. It
wasn't really what it had been for all of the
(09:34):
years that I had been playing there. I feel like
a lot of things had changed and the culture just
became completely different, and it was hard because we built
this culture over six seven, eight years and then it
(09:55):
shifted and it felt like I wasn't meant to be
a part of that culture anymore, or be a part
of that group, or be a part of that future.
Which is fine, those things happen, you know, especially two
athletes who are on the other side of thirty five.
(10:20):
But I just feel like it just wasn't really a
space for me to be my authentic self anymore. It
wasn't a space for me to feel joy, and it
wasn't a space for me to play freely, and so
I just knew that it wasn't really the spot that
(10:40):
I needed to be in anymore. And regardless of where
I end up, or if I retire or if I
keep playing, I just knew that that wasn't where I
wanted to be. And so I made the decision, a
very hard decision, that that wasn't someplace where I was
gonna invest my time anymore.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
You know, I was watching an interview with you last
year with Attacking Third, and it was sort of an
innocuous question about what music you've been listening to, and
you said Chapel Rone.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
You said you've been listening to her for a while.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
You're an og Chapel head, but you were very good
about embracing the newbies that were starting to love her too.
You weren't being a hipster about it. You were welcoming
us all to the Chapel Roan party, but you got
deep into it. And you said that last season her
music helped you get to a place where you could
dance again, that when you're not dancing and singing, people
should check in on you. You do have this incredible
(11:35):
light about you that I imagine if it's darkened, people notice.
And I'd love to hear you talk about that, particularly
because I think the power of certain music and maybe
artists that make you feel seen is really incredible. Why
did you need that last year and how did it
arrive for you when you needed it?
Speaker 3 (11:50):
I always need music in my life. It's something that
I don't know if you get this feeling. Apparently there's
only a certain percentage of people that get this fear.
I was reading about it the other day, but it's like,
if a song really sits with you and it it
makes you feel something, then you get chills. Does that
(12:11):
happen to you?
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Yeah? Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
I literally have sent my bestdie my concert wife that
article because it says people who get the goosebumps or
chill bumps or have awe. I cry a lot at concerts,
Oh totally, just like I get so overwhelmed by how
happy I am and how much like it means to
me that I cry. When I first started dating, my
husband was like, uh you okay. I'm like, oh yeah,
(12:33):
you'll get used to this. I do this a lot.
That's amazing, But yeah, that article said that it's actually
really good for health outcomes, that they're not entirely sure why,
but that people who genuinely and regularly experience awe at
the world, particularly things like music, have better general health
across multiple different indicators.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
I'm like, yes, please, I send it to my friend
and we're like we're good. Yeah, love that.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
I I think just last year there was a lot
of stress and anxiety that I really haven't felt playing
soccer in a very long time since I was very young,
and like trying to prove myself, and those anxiety and
stress feelings were really compounding to the point where I
(13:22):
wasn't really wanting to show up to training or to
go to soccer, which by the way, is a first
for me. Ever, the thing that I love most about
the game is showing up to practice and hanging out
with my friends and having fun and bopping the ball
as fast as we can go into the weight room,
like just hanging out, and that's what brings me the
most joy in soccer, and so I wasn't getting that
(13:45):
last year. And when you're not getting that day after
day after day from something that previously brought you so
much joy, it became like compounded each day that you
went like it became harder and harder and harder to go.
(14:08):
So I decided that I needed to look into this
more and to figure out what brings me joy besides soccer.
And I've been really good about that in the past,
but soccer has been relatively easy for me throughout my
career in the last ten years. Of course, there's been setbacks.
(14:31):
Of course there's been heartbreaks, of course there's been losses,
but overall, it's been such a nourishing and beautiful journey
that I've felt so grateful for it. And just in
the past year that completely flipped, and so I was
just starting to really lean into the other things in
life that brought me joy, and one of those was music.
(14:55):
And that's how Chapel Rowan came to be. And I
just been bopping to her and turning the jams up
as loud as I could. And one of the things
that it helped me realize, which was actually quite profound
for me. I don't know if it would be profound
for everybody else, but what was profound for me is
that I realized that soccer never brought me joy. It
(15:17):
was always me bringing me joy and that soccer was
just a vehicle for me to bring out my own joy.
So that was a really big moment for me, and
Chapel helped me discover that. And so that's kind of
what I was getting into with the attacking third. I'm
not entirely sure that that came across in that interview
(15:39):
because I don't think that I fully recognized what was
happening yet. But now after reflection and time and space,
I'm able to put a name to it, is that, yes,
this is what happened. I was able to have this
realization and it's actually made it gosh, it's helped me
(16:01):
like bring about a sense of peace.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Back even in early twenty twenty three, you posted about
getting your championship rings with the Thorns, and the caption
was very simple. It was a couple of all your
you and your teammates on the right carpet showing off
the new rings, and you just said joy equal success.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
So it feels like.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
You've kind of known all along that it wasn't soccer
necessarily or winning that was success, but the process of
doing it and how it made you feel doing it.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
Totally one of my coaches. His name's Jason Goldsmith, and
I've been working with him for a while now. He
works with a bunch of PGA players and stuff like
that on the mental game, and he's taught me how
to meditate and what meditation means and how it can
help you with sport in general and life in general.
(16:54):
And that's his go to saying, which I've totally stolen
and he has given approval of it. But yeah, joy
equals success is kind of my motto now, And even
when I have soccer camps for kids, I make sure
that they know that the number one thing is that
we're having fun, and that anywhere that we can have
(17:16):
fun means that we're being successful. And then I think
there's also the other side to it too, is that
when you are having fun, it probably will lead to success.
So it's kind of a double edged thing. Joy in
itself is a success, but also joy leads to success
in the field that you want. Because you're having so
(17:38):
much fun, how could you not be successful at it?
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Yeah, you're probably playing free or and bringing your full
self and all of that. I remember learning about this
concept you diamonea. It was from Aristotle and it was
like the ultimate flourishing in life comes from a state
of happiness, Like it's distinct from like a simple pleasure.
It's like basically just like thriving, just like flourishing. And
I think about it a lot, because for some people,
(18:02):
happiness is not their ultimate goal. It's something else, and
then they hope they're happy as a result of that.
And mine has always been happiness, like will that make
me happier? Or will it make me richer? If it
makes me richer but not happier than I'm not taking it,
If it makes me this but not happier that I'm
not taking it, and so I feel like joy happiness
like same vibe, which has really served me too. I
(18:23):
wonder being on the older side on the Portland Thorns
team and understanding how much younger people are getting better
at talking about mental health, about knowing their identity isn't
just their job or their work, compared to some of
us that had to learn that much older. When you
were thinking about your unhappiness there and trying to figure
(18:43):
out why you were waking up in this rut, did
you talk to your younger teammates at all about this
idea of joy or trying to figure out if they
had figured something out that maybe you needed to circle
back around and find out at an older age.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Well, I was always talking to them about different things
and just checking in with them, whether it was about
Love Island, USA, which we were all obsessed with and
oh my gosh, I love that, or whether it's you know,
just in general, checking in, seeing how they're doing after
a match, after a loss, after a win, going to
(19:18):
get coffee. I really tried to connect with a lot
of different people on the team in different ways. And
I was really proud of myself because while I wasn't
being successful on the field, because I wasn't on the field,
I felt like I had a really successful season off
the field and felt like I had a really big
(19:40):
impact on the group outside of the pitch. And that
made me really proud because while I had done that
before as a leader, I had to basically put aside
my ego this year and figure out how to still
help the group. And don't get me wrong, there was
a lot of time where I couldn't put it aside,
(20:02):
and that's okay because that's what makes me me and
that's what helped me become successful at this sport was
believing in myself and telling everybody to get the fuck
out of my way if they're you're not going to
help me, you know. And sometimes there's just nothing that
you can do, regardless of how well you're playing, or
(20:22):
how good of a teammate you are, or how much
you know, how good of a performance you're putting in
in any of your minutes, it just doesn't matter sometimes,
And it's sometimes because you're not good enough. Sometimes it's
because the coach just doesn't think that you're going to
give the team what it needs. Sometimes you just don't
(20:44):
fit the picture. There's a bunch of different reasons why
it doesn't add up, and it's not all because you're unworthy.
And I think that one of the things that people
our age have a hard time with, at least the
friend that I'm around, is that if we fail, or
if we're not doing something the way that everybody else is,
(21:06):
or we're not completing our goals on this timeline that
we have in our heads, that were unworthy and that's
just not true. And you know, just talking to people
about that and talking through kind of just feelings of
being on the bench and feelings of getting older was
(21:30):
really interesting this year because I could tell that my
teammates really loved me because they were just so compassionate
and caring and really landed an ear whenever I needed it.
And that was kind of a flip from before when
I hadn't had to have these type of conversations in
a season. So I really appreciate them doing that. I
(21:53):
don't think they even realize how big of a impact
and how big of like, how how special that was
to do for somebody. So I truly appreciate that. And
so no, I don't think that I necessarily spoke to
them specifically like hey, have you, you know, tell me
(22:13):
about this, but just talking to them in general and
was just really eye opening and it's nice to feel
cared for. And they did make me for sure, and
that's pretty much the biggest thing you can do for
somebody that you're working with or friends with.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
What about the opposite direction, because it feels like you
got to this sort of inevitable but unenviable.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Position of like, oh, is this is this the end?
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Like am I Am? I done with what I'm supposed
to do here? Even if I don't want to be
or I don't feel ready to be. I'm not used
to being on the bench. I'm not used to not
being the person that's leading, you know, with my play,
did you talk to older folks, either recently retired or
compatriots who are considering retirement to figure out if what
you were feeling was like a nudge out or you
needed to push through and think about it longer.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
I didn't talk to anybody who had already been retired.
It was more talking to Becky a lot, who's my
best friend.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
And Becky sower Brun.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
Yeah, yeah, sorry, I just assume everybody's Becky with the
good hair. Yeah. So, Becky sour Brun is my best friend,
and we sat next to each other in the lockers.
We hang out all the time. We lived in the
same place and we'd just been friends for a long time.
We talked about it a lot. Talked about it a
lot with Sinki, who did know that she was retiring.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Christine Sinclair, Yep.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Sorry, you can do this. You can't do it that, okay, okay?
And yeah, my coach Jason, and just chatting through with
my partner Ingrid and just making sure that I was
getting all of those feelings out. And one of the
(23:59):
things that I did in this new year that I
wasn't able to do when I was in the actual
situation was kind of let go. And what I realized
was that the letting like I was scared to let go,
and I was like, oh, I didn't even realize that
(24:21):
that was the part that was actually hurting me. And
once I did do it, it was like this huge
relief and I could actually move forward and start to
explore new opportunities and new environments. But it wasn't really
(24:42):
the soccer that was holding me back, like, oh, I
want to keep playing, but they're pushing me out, you know,
like those thoughts go through your head. But what ended
up really being it wasn't the soccer. It was it
was the me of still holy onto something that just
wasn't for me anymore. And once I did let it go, Wow,
(25:07):
it was just such a relief and a completely different feeling.
And I just feel like a completely different person than
I did than even like four or five months ago.
And it's just freeing to note that. But it's also
just so hard to get to that point.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Yeah, I have a lot of people in my life
in the last couple of years, myself included at certain
points where it's like, even if you know that maybe
the thing isn't for you anymore, if it's the thing
you've always known, going away from it means you have
to find out what the new thing is, and that's terrifying.
Even if you're not perfectly happy or things aren't right
(25:46):
where you are. It's like there's a saying, I think
it's the misery of I'm gonna forget it, but it's
essentially like you'd rather have the misery of what you
know than the uncomfortableness of what you don't or something
like that.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Correct, But yeah, I think I think a lot of
people go through that.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
You know.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
I have to ask, are there any parallels for you
to the end of your national career, because I imagine
you felt like you had more to offer there that
you weren't ready to say goodbye to that yet.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Either.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
You played a lot of minutes at the twenty sixteen Olympics,
you played kind of sparingly in twenty seventeen, and you
didn't get a call up after that, but you were
only thirty years old. You had so much else that
you could have done with that team. You refocused and
set goals for the NWSL. You've had years of a
great career after your national team career ended, But did
you feel that way at all in that moment as well?
(26:32):
Where you had to get to a point where you
could close the door on that and be okay that
that wasn't for you anymore totally.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
And it took me a long time to be able
to let that go. It took me way longer to
be able to like let go my national team dreams.
And I was really bitter for a long time about it,
mainly because I had an injury that went undiagnosed or
(26:58):
misdiagnosed for a long time, and because of that, I
was playing through injury when I shouldn't have been and
needed a surgery, And because of that, my play was
not up to the standard that it usually was, and
so that got held against me, and that sucks, but
that's also life. So I held onto that for a
(27:21):
really long time, and I don't really think that I
got over that until I met Jason and really started
working through like a lot of my stuff and was
able to be more in the moment and enjoy what
I have. And when I started doing that, I saw
my play kind of take this leap that I haven't
seen it take in a long time, and that was
(27:44):
really cool. And I kind of realigned all of my
goals and all of the things that I wanted to
do with soccer and with my life and realized that
there was a few things that were really important for me,
and none of them were about winning, and none of
them were about being on the national team.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Yeah, that's wild when that happens. Huh uh huh.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Yeah. So so then I think because I went through
that experience, this experience with the Thorns, it wasn't easier,
but I was able to get to a point where
I was okay faster because I had a coping mechanism
(28:26):
and I had people in my life that could really help,
and I was able to see the blessings as opposed
to all of the row the so called wrongs that
were perpetrated against me, you know, at my age, things
that I have. So yeah, And and one thing that
(28:49):
I also realized too is that, like you know, I'm
left back, right, and I've been left back on the
Thorns for nine seasons, and eight of them I started
every single game that I was available, and that was
my position. But what I realized is that it's not
minus nobody's you know, it's not anybody's it. Eventually, even
(29:14):
if I kept playing and I played till forty five,
somebody else is going to play that position eventually, and
it's not theirs. You know, it doesn't belong to anybody.
It's not mine. And I think that I had this like, oh,
it's something to lose, it's something to lose. But it
was never mine in the first.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Place, right, right, And you weren't owed it either, So
when it wasn't yours, then it wasn't a persecution. It
was a decision rather right or wrong, but just a decision,
and the result was that you weren't playing there anymore.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
It's really hard to work through, especially when you're in it,
and especially when you feel like the culture is not
exactly you know, what you spent all of your time building.
And regardless, I I just feel like I do feel
like with players who are getting older, who are injured,
who maybe aren't going to make the level that they
(30:10):
need to, we need a bit more compassion for them
because they have put their heart and soul into this.
And I think that players all they deserve is respect
and honesty, and I feel like if we give them that,
they may still be upset, but it's something that they
(30:32):
will be able to live with because that's just like,
that's just the way that it is. But I feel
like when people get uncomfortable, they start telling like not
lies necessarily, but they'll frame it in a way that
seems really rosy, but it's just not the way that
it is. And I think that, you know, to get
(30:53):
the best out of our athletes, we need to be
upfront with them and allow them to go through through
those feelings. Allow them to be angry with the situation
with you if they need to be, and then work
through it. That's just life, and that will allow them
to be their best selves and it will allow the
team to be its best because if we just don't
(31:17):
allow them to go through that process, then they're going
to be stuck in perpetuity just being bitter or just
being mad.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
Well to your point too, the moments that you couldn't
get past your ego, you weren't that helpful to the team,
But when you were able to accept the situation as
for what it was, then you could find a way
to be someone who is additive even from the bench.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
So if you're transparent with people.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
And they know their new role and can learn to
embrace it, they can still add something. But if they're
in a state of confusion or anger, they don't feel
like they're being communicated with, they're probably not given much
back other than energy.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
That's bad for everybody else, correct, Yeah, and some.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
People can still overcome that because they just want to
be good for the team. But why like, let's help them,
Let's help everybody, regardless of their on field contributions, because
quite frankly, everybody on that team is going to make
it successful or not, whether they're playing or not.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
You know, you keep talking about the culture there. Do
you think it has more to do with just the
changing makeup of the roster. Do you think it's ownership?
Do you think it's something that should still be addressed
for the players there now or just wasn't a fit
for you, Like if you were in charge over there,
would you be addressing the stuff that you didn't think
was working right last year for the current team.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
Let me first say that I think the players were great.
I think that it was a great locker room. I
think people absolutely put their heart and soul into it.
I think that they were respectful and kind to one another,
and I really enjoyed being around all the players on
the team, so let's put them out there first. But
(33:02):
I do think though, that clearly something wasn't working because
that team had so much talent and we ended up
being the lowest finish I think in the history of
the club. So I would immediately address that. And I
(33:23):
do think it is a culture issue. I think there
was a really difficult transition from the old owners to
the new owners, and I think that the things that
I wanted to prioritize was not something that the people
(33:44):
were in charge wanted to prioritize. And I don't think
that the things that they want to prioritize will make
them successful, but that's my.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
Opinion, and what kind of things.
Speaker 3 (33:57):
I think that people are more interested then creating a
brand that's going to be like successful and is going
to be like world renown, which is great, that's great,
but I think that that comes from the team doing well.
(34:17):
And I think that comes from the team being taken
care of and playing with joy and playing with freedom,
and like creating an environment where they can be themselves
and like be their best selves. And I think it's
about finding players. Like we had great players in the team,
but I just think sometimes the way that they wanted
(34:41):
certain players to play didn't fit who they were, and
then they were trying to play the way that somebody
else wanted them to play, which happens all the time, right,
But that doesn't mean that they're going to be the
best that they can be because they're just not in
a space to be. But they need so.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Yeah, or you can get buy in for a different
style and a different approach, but then people have to
really be sold on why they're doing it and trust
you and want to follow you. And then if it's
not exactly what they would normally do, they could still
thrive in it if they believe in it, but you
have to get there absolutely.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
And then I just think that if the player isn't
the one that you need to be in that system,
then you need to communicate that to them and then
bring in the player that is going to be the
one that fits in that system. Because I know when
we were successful, like in twenty twenty one with Mark
(35:38):
Parsons and that group that was playing there, we were
incredibly talented and there was also other teams in the
world that probably had more talent that we did, but
we were all so bought into what we were doing,
the culture, the tactics, how we were going to go
about it, and if something wasn't working, we would all
(36:00):
work together to be able to fix that. And we
were given that platform to like work on it and
problem solve together. And that was one of the things
that I was like so like most proud of building.
And then I just feel like that wasn't the way
(36:23):
that it was going to be moving forward.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Right, we got to take a quick break more with
Kling after this. So you're out now with you know,
might join another team, might be done.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
You're figuring it all out. But you've got got this
quality about you. You're a natural.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
Leader, you're entertainer, You fight for others, you stand up
for the queer community.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
You have all this vibe. You have tons of vibes
and energy. Bud you do you do?
Speaker 1 (36:58):
You just bring, like like you said, joy to every
where you go, even in talking about deep and hard things.
It's joyful when someone could share that part of themselves
because it makes other people feel understood and scenes. So
where are you going to bring all that good stuff
in the next stage of life, where do you want
to shine that light?
Speaker 3 (37:14):
That's the question, isn't it. That's the question. I told
my partner Ingrid. She's wonderful, by the way. I need
to give her a shout out because she's just the best.
But she started her own business, the New Savant, and
it's Fragrant Business, and it's just been really fun watching
her do that and really inspiring. And anyways, shout out
(37:37):
to Ingrid. That's all I want to say. But for
this next year, I committed to being uncomfortable, and I
decided that I don't want to have any job that
I'm going to lock myself into when I'm just not
ready for that yet. And so I I'm just trying
(38:00):
a bunch of stuff. This is the year that I'm
going to explore. I'm doing media, I'm trying coaching, I'm
trying all kinds of different stuff playing and basically, I
just really want to figure out something like soccer that
makes me tick, that really gets me up in the morning,
(38:21):
something that helps me move towards my why, and that
will be That's just what I'm going to be doing
this year is kind of figuring that out. And I
actually just went to Italy. My family is from there,
and I was I went totally solo, just by myself,
(38:42):
two weeks in Rome and Naples and Florence, and I
was calling it my eight Gay Love Tour, and I
I just was like eating a bunch of pasta and
pizza and drinking apparel spritzes and talking to people. All
I did was talk to people, because even when I'm alone,
(39:06):
I loved chatting with people. And so I booked all
of these tours by myself and just really stepped into
that of comfortableness and just made friends on all these
tours and got their Instagram handles and their emails and
their everything, and so it was really nice because what
I realized, and I've known this all along, but sometimes
(39:28):
it's hard when you're just seeing this constant negative news,
is that people are kind and people want community and
people want to connect, and so it was really nice
to connect with people.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
I would watch that show, by the way, you know,
Eat Gay Love.
Speaker 1 (39:45):
If you make a digital show called Eat Gay Love
and you just go around the world and you're like
everybody's favorite queer, that's like.
Speaker 2 (39:51):
Hey, let me go somewhere where they might not like
me up too bad? You like me?
Speaker 3 (39:55):
You like me?
Speaker 2 (39:58):
I would watch that. Yeah, just weird full gave great Sarah.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
But I'm not going to North Korea.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
No, No, I think there are some places we can
cross off the list and we will provide you with
a really big bodyguard just in case people are like, Nope,
we still don't like.
Speaker 3 (40:15):
To the friendly places.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
If you don't start there, let's start there.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
You know you mentioned media though you had your show
My New Favorite Football lista podcast that you hosted for
NBC Sports. First, I want to just ask, like, what
made you want to tell stories the way you did?
You really got into things like cancer and grief and
mental health. When you were approached with the idea of
doing a show, did you offer up that that's how
you wanted to do it.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
Well. The thing about NBC that was so great is
that they were so collaborative, and so I wasn't the
official host. They were looking at a couple different people,
and I was like, going on this call, am I agent?
He's awesome. He presented it as like I already got
(41:02):
this job, but I didn't, and so I thought that
I had the job. I show up on this call
with all these NBC execs and producers and everything, and
I'm like spouting off all these ideas of what we
should do and how we should do it. They were like,
this is great, this is so great. So meanwhile, it
(41:23):
could have like totally gone to another person and I
would have just given them all of these ideas. I
feel like that kind of shows you, like when you
really commit to something and you're not trying to gatekeep
that things can't really work out for you, which they did.
And it was so fun because when you are a
(41:46):
celebrity in the soccer space, in a sports space, people
think only of you in that space. They don't think
of you as this multifaceted person who has wants and
dreams and cares and that are totally separate from soccer.
And we wanted to show that, and I thought we
(42:06):
did a really great job showcasing people's the things that
they were they cared about most outside of the game,
and the things that meant the most to them, and
really showed such a human side of who they are.
And it was really wonderful, especially doing ones with my friends,
especially seeing them open up in ways that they haven't
(42:30):
on camera and in public spaces or haven't felt comfortable doing.
And I felt like I was able to provide a
safe space where they were able to do that. And
watching open up in that way and talk about her
grief and talk about mental health because that's something that
she cared about because of her friend was really beautiful.
(42:53):
And I actually have had people come up to me
and say, hey, we've played your podcast. We've played your
episode with Sophie Smith to our whole entire team because
they've been struggling with mental health health and we needed
a way to show them that it's okay to talk
about these things. Everybody goes through this, even people that
(43:16):
are older, even people that you think have the world
by the yes. And that was one of the coolest
things that I never expected, having people come up and
say that and felt like, we really need an impact
that way you did.
Speaker 2 (43:30):
Is the show coming back?
Speaker 3 (43:32):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
I mean, I think theres just like you.
Speaker 3 (43:36):
I think that the NBC will do the show again.
Will I be the host? I'm not sure. I'd love
to be the host again. I had such a blast
doing that. But let's see, fingers crossed.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
Just show up again, act as if you already got
the job.
Speaker 3 (43:50):
I should, I really should.
Speaker 1 (43:52):
We're running out of time, but I have a couple
of last things that I really quickly want to ask
you about. So I know you founded re Ink with Tobinheath,
Kristen Press, and Meghan Rapino, or you still have involved
in that or working in that.
Speaker 3 (44:02):
You know, it's really Kristin and Tobin that are doing
the heavy lifting. I'm still on the board and I
help out in a lot of like high level ways
in that space. But no, I'm not doing as much
heavy lifting as I was at the beginning. But that's okay.
I think they're doing a great job and it really
hasn't Like I realized that clothing wasn't really the thing
(44:24):
that was inspiring to me, and it was for them,
and so it felt like a really smart thing to
do was have them be at the front pushing it
forward because it's the thing that they cared about the most.
Speaker 1 (44:37):
Yeah, we recently had Christine Sinclair on the show to
talk about Canada's new pro league, the NSL, longtime teammate
of yours, one of the greats. I need you to
quickly tell us about when you almost ruined your friendship
over a spilled Margarita in a runaway golf cart.
Speaker 3 (44:52):
Okay, Sarah, that was so fun. We still talk about
it all the time. She still holds it against me.
I don't care. There's this golf tournament that the Timbers
did that was kind of a co branded thing where
it was a stand together at golf event where people
would go and then they pay to play, and then
(45:15):
obviously that money goes to the charity and they get
paired with certain people or whatever. And so me and
Sinkie were in the same pairing and we were having
such a blest. We I don't know how I ended
up being the person that was the golf card driver,
but I was, and it was incredible. So we saw
(45:37):
we were only playing nine holes, but we ended up
playing eighteen, and we drank as if we were playing
nine holes instead of eighteen, which, as you can imagine,
is a real issue. So we got them ore and
by the way, everybody was buying our drinks. I don't
think I'd bought one drink while I was there, So they.
Speaker 2 (46:00):
Don't count if you don't pay for them.
Speaker 1 (46:01):
So that's probably why you had too many, because you
weren't counting.
Speaker 3 (46:04):
I never said too many. I just said, oh.
Speaker 2 (46:07):
Right, I'm so sorry. Yes, an appropriate amount for nine holes, you're.
Speaker 3 (46:11):
Right and inappropriate. Yeah, and it was an inappropriate amount whatever. Anyway,
so we have our Margarita's in hand, and I decided,
I think on the ninth hole, that I was gonna
drive a little bit crazy. And so we got a
little lost on our way to the ninth hole, and
(46:31):
I had to make some quick maneuvers to get us
back on track. So what happened was we started going
down this hill and I didn't realize that there was
there was a path, but I didn't realize there was
what are those on the side.
Speaker 1 (46:51):
Like the little flags that tell you you're not supposed
to drive there.
Speaker 3 (46:54):
No, it was more like like the stones that.
Speaker 2 (46:57):
Like okay, right, like like.
Speaker 3 (46:59):
We're sidewalk is like, you know, the curb, the curb.
There was a curbb So I'm coming down this hill
and like we're going way faster than the golf cart
should actually go because we're going down a hill. So
we hit the first one and it's like and our
Margarita's are like you know, and it's like whoa, but
(47:20):
it goes back in. Then we hit the second curb
and it wasn't shinkx Margarita, but it was my own
Margarita that's spilled on Sink's lap. And I was and
I was like, oh my god, and I'm laughing so
hard and she is so pissed. But I could not
even keep in my laughter. I couldn't. And I think
(47:43):
that she got extra mad because I couldn't stop.
Speaker 1 (47:46):
Laughing right right, And she had nine holes with Margarita
lap also, But I I.
Speaker 3 (47:54):
Got her another Margarita.
Speaker 2 (47:57):
That wasn't the problem. I don't think totally. Well, I
think that was the problem, but it was a problem.
Speaker 3 (48:03):
But then that the next Margarita made her forget it.
Speaker 1 (48:06):
Okay, good, along with other things. Okay, last question for
you very quickly. I could not believe I had not
heard this before. But when you were with the Dash,
the team had a host family program and you and
Morgan Brian lived with Jeff van Gundy and his family.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
This is mind blowing to meet Jeff van Gundy.
Speaker 1 (48:21):
For those not familiar, like longtime NBA coach broadcaster, I'm
obsessed with his brother Stan. I don't know Jeff as much,
but Stan is just the best guy. I need one
good story from living with Jeff van Gundy and his family.
Speaker 3 (48:34):
Oh my god, there's so many good stories. But I
guess the thing that would just bring it all together
is that we would have pancakes Sundays and literally every Sunday,
we would just make pancakes together. And uh, just I
would be in charge of the bacon because that's when
I ate meat, So I would be in charge of
(48:54):
the bacon. I would make it extra crispy for everyone.
Kim has wife would be in charge of the pancakes,
and Jeff would be in charge of eating everything.
Speaker 2 (49:06):
What was Morgan doing nothing was.
Speaker 3 (49:08):
Maybe cutting the fruit.
Speaker 2 (49:10):
Okay, okay, good job, somebody needs that job.
Speaker 1 (49:13):
I just I already liked him, but the idea that
he and his family would host women soccer players and
I presume a nice mansion because he'd been a very
successful coach, Like, that's that's very nice.
Speaker 2 (49:25):
How long did you live there?
Speaker 3 (49:27):
I lived there almost two years? To be fair, they're
very Yeah, they're very down to earth people. They're just
so kind. We still keep in touch.
Speaker 2 (49:36):
Good family, really good family, and fun.
Speaker 3 (49:39):
They're really fun, very fun.
Speaker 2 (49:41):
I can only imagine.
Speaker 1 (49:42):
Also, if anyone wants to know what the NWSL was like,
in the early years, professional women athletes were living in
the family home of random people because of the amount
of money for housing and whatnot. Anyway, Megan, I mean literally,
I could talk to you forever. I've already taken up
way too much of your time, but it's so fun
to catch up.
Speaker 2 (50:01):
I'm so excited to see what you do next.
Speaker 1 (50:03):
But no, Rush, I think you should be writing down notes,
by the way, all year about your adventures and explorations.
Really take an exploratory, scientific approach to like when am
I happiest, am I around people or not? Am I
traveling or not? Am I creative or not? And that'll
help you, you know, figure out what's next.
Speaker 3 (50:20):
Thank you so much, and I will take all the
advice I can get from somebody definitely who's been through it,
who's done it, and somebody that I respect. So thank
you very much. And it's been really fun being on
the show. Even though you made me talk about hard subjects.
Speaker 2 (50:37):
My bad, you liked it.
Speaker 1 (50:43):
Thanks again to Kling for taking the time, such a
great conversation.
Speaker 2 (50:46):
We got to take another break when we come back.
Speaker 1 (50:48):
A teammate turns trophy wife. Welcome, Max slices quick shout
out to Super Slice. Hey guy Alitzer, who let me
know that I misused the British phrase chuffed in Tuesday show.
Speaker 2 (51:06):
I swear y'all every time I hear it.
Speaker 1 (51:07):
I think it means miffed, but chuffed actually means pleased.
So my apologies to Britz and others who are surely
miffed and definitely not chuffed by my butchering of their vernacular.
And also thank you a guy for the reminder of
two other great British phrases, shambalic which means chaotic and disorganized,
and rgi bargie, which means like quarreling or disagreement between people.
(51:31):
I really need to start using those regularly argie bargie
and shambalic, and of course also subsumed.
Speaker 2 (51:38):
We love that you're.
Speaker 1 (51:38):
Listening, but we always want you to get in the
game every day too, So here's your good gameplay of
the day. Keep sending us your terms for the Good
Game glossary Ahead of episode two hundred, we're gathering all
the terms inside jokes and segments that any new listener
needs to know to get caught up on the show,
so send us what you think must be included. Plus
we want to know what too, and only two episodes
(52:00):
you would recommend to a brand new Slice aka Seedling.
You can also send us any burning questions you have
about how we make the show or anything that goes
on behind the scenes. You got to get them in asap, though,
so email or message me on social by noon today
to make sure we get them. Send us your thoughts
good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or at Spain two
three two three on Insta at Sarah Spain on x
(52:22):
at Sarahspain dot com, on Blue Sky, and.
Speaker 2 (52:26):
Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review.
Speaker 1 (52:28):
It's easy watch Megan Klingenberg's twenty twenty one Halloween costume
rating ten out of ten, absolutely no notes review. In
preparation for our conversation, I did a little deep dive
on Megan's social and yes, I scrolled all the way
back to twenty twenty one. She doesn't post all that
often though, so I'm not a full stage five clinger,
(52:48):
but close anyway. All the scrolling was worth it, y'all,
because she dressed as a dapper old man for Halloween
Caine mustache, giant gray eyebrows, and then teammate Kelly Hubbley
dressed as a gold digging trophy wife, complete with an
actual trophy and the caption for Megan Reid's quote, my
wife of fifty two years passed away six years ago,
(53:10):
and I'm so grateful that Chastity has filled that giant
size hole in my heart end quote, like Midge Purse commented,
not Chastity. It's too good, y'all. We'll post the link
in our show notes so you could check it out.
Now it's your turn, rate and review, come a, give
us five stars, tell us you love us, Thanks for listening.
Speaker 2 (53:28):
See you tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (53:29):
Good game, Cling, good game, daffodils, letting us know springs.
Finally here you people who still think you're in high school.
But then you know, at some point in your mid
twenties when you spot your first forehead wrinkle, and in
your early thirties when the grays start coming in, then
I guess it's thank you. Thank you, people who still
think you're in high school. Good Game with Sarah Spain
(53:53):
is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep
Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the
iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Production by Wonder Media Network. Our producers are Alex Azzie
and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz,
Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rutter,
Britney Martinez and Grace Lynch. Our associate producer is Lucy
(54:15):
Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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