July 29, 2025 • 25 mins
Seattle Storm forward and French national team star Gabby Williams joins Sarah to talk about overcoming early struggles in the WNBA, her priorities for the ongoing CBA negotiations, how her tattoos connect her to family, and the W’s efforts to cement itself as the globally preferred league. Plus, Summer McIntosh continues to dominate in the pool, Naomi Osaka makes a staffing change, and we’re soooo close to getting new Ted Lasso episodes.
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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're spelling
mischievous with a Y like Paige Becker's.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
From here on out do your thing, Rook. The world
is yours.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
In fact, we're calling Merriam Webster right now to have
them make that change official. In case you missed it,
we'll link to the Dallas Wing spelling b in the
show notes. It's Tuesday, July twenty eighth, and on today's
show we'll be chatting with Seattle storm forward and French
national team star Gabby Williams about the challenges that came
with joining the WNBA, her priorities for the ongoing CBA negotiations,
(00:31):
how her tattoos connect her to her family, and how
she got good at hiding those tattoos while playing for Yukon.
Plus a rare home loss, go in two for two
and it's time to dust off that believe poster. It's
all coming out right after this welcome back slices. Here's
(00:52):
what you need to know today. Let's start with swimming Worlds.
Two days into the World Championships in Singapore and Canadian
star Summer McIntosh already has two gold medals. One day
after winning the four hundred meter free. She took home
the world title in the two hundred meter individual medley.
At these World Championships, McIntosh could become the second swimmer
(01:13):
to ever win five individual gold medals at a single
World Championships.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
That's a feat achieved.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Previously only by Michael Phelps, and the race many consider
the main event, the eight hundred meter freestyle competition featuring
McIntosh and Katie Ldeki, is still to come, with preliminary
heats on Thursday night and the final on Saturday morning.
Also at the World Championship, Scretchen Walsh won Team USA's
first gold medal at the meet on Monday, winning the
one hundred meter butterfly in World Championship record time to
(01:42):
the WNBA, The Minnesota Lynx's home win streak has ended.
The Atlanta Dream handed the Links their first home court
loss of the season on Sunday, winning the contest ninety
to eighty six. Britney Griner led the Dream with the
season high twenty two points along with four rebounds and
three assists. The ten time All Star has scored in
double figures in six of the team's eight games in
(02:03):
the month of July, including five of six games on
their current road trip.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
More hoops news.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
South Carolina forward Ashland Watkins has announced she's sitting out
the twenty twenty five to twenty sixth season, but she
does hope to return for her senior season next year.
A quick refresher if you forget Watkins' story. She was
a member of the game Cocks NCAA championship team in
twenty twenty four, but she was suspended for the start
of last season after she was arrested in August of
twenty twenty four on assault, battery, and kidnapping charges. Now
(02:32):
those charges were later dismissed after she completed a pre
trial intervention program, and she returned to the team briefly
before suffering a season ending ACL tear.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
In January.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
On Instagram, Watkins wrote, quote, as most of you know,
this past year has been a roller coaster for me.
I usually like to keep my personal life private, but
every time I step out into the community, I realize
I'm not alone in this journey.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
So many of you have shown me love and encouragement, and.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Because of that, I feel like I owe you a
little insight into what's been going on. I also want
the younger ones who look up to me to know
that tough times don't define you, they make you stronger.
With everything that's happened this year, I'm going to take
some time off to focus on myself, my community, my faith,
and my family so that I can grow as an
individual and attempt to master this journey of life.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
End quote to Soccer.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
The US women's national team has announced it will play
three friendlies in October and will honor two legends in
the process. The US is set to play Portugal twice,
with one game in Chester, Pennsylvania, and the other in
East Hartford, Connecticut. The final game, which will be held
at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, is against an opponent
yet to be determined. Alex Morgan, who retired last year,
(03:38):
will be honored ahead of the game in Chester, while
Alyssa Mayor will be recognized in East Hartford, not far
from her hometown of.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Stratford, Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
We'll link to the full US women's national team schedule
and tickets in the show notes.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
To Tennis.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Over the weekend, four time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka
announced she's no longer working with coach Patrick Mori Tooglu.
The news comes after Osaka lost her second round match
at the Time Open, and ahead of Osaka's first match
at this week's National Bank Open in Canada. Osaka hired
Moritoglu just under a year ago, and in her Instagram
story on Sunday, she thanked him, writing, quote Mayor C. Patrick,
(04:12):
it was such a great experience learning from you, Wishing
you nothing but the best. You were one of the
coolest people I've ever met, and I'm sure I'll see
you around end quote to cycling. The Tour de France
Fem is underway and after three stages, Mary and Voss
leads the overall standings and will wear the yellow jersey
for stage four on Tuesday. Monday's stage featured a sprint
race following two days in the hills. Lorena Weebis won
(04:35):
the stage after a crash took out a handful of
top cyclists, including previous Tour de France Fem champion Demi Voloring.
While those involved in the crash won't lose time in
their general classification standing as they were just three kilometers
from the finish, it's unclear whether Voloring and the others
were injured too severely to continue the nine day event.
We got to take a quick break, y'all when we
(04:56):
come back. I caught up with Gabby Williams last week.
You'll hear our fascinating and very honest conversation.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Next joining us now.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
She's an American French hooper who plays with the Seattle
Storm and previously played with the Chicago sky, La Sparks
and pro teams in Hungary, France and Turkey. A member
of the French national team, she went silver with her
squad at the twenty twenty four Pais Games and brons
at the twenty twenty Tokyo Games. A former Yukon Husky
who went to four straight final fours and went back
to back national.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Championships in twenty fifteen to twenty sixteen.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
And at two time Gatorade Nevada Girls Track and Field
Athlete of the Year. In high school, she made her
first WNBA All Star team this year. She got her
first fake tattoo when she was twelve, but the one
she's got now are real. Stormhead coach Noel Quinn calls
her the French army Knife. It's Gabby Williams. Hi, Gabby, Hi,
thanks for having me. Yeah, thanks for coming on. I
gotta start with the tattoos. I just love them, and
(05:54):
I love the creative way you had to hide your
first tattoo, big ol' rose on your shoulder. You're playing
at Uka, where visible tattoos are discouraged, so tell us
about your creative fix.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah, we would test it out a few things. It
was so ironic because Chris Daily, she did not like tattoos,
but the things she hated more than tattoos was tape
that cover tattoos or make up that cover tattoos. So
we tried to get like, She's like, no, that's even uglier,
Like it doesn't. She liked us to all have a
good aesthetic in our jerseys, and so we made it
(06:24):
look like an injury with canisio tape. So I just
had a sore shoulder for four years.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I can't believe they never figured that
out and they never got you a fix. When you
wanted to add new tats, you had to like test
out placement in your uniform, right, so they were all
hidden all over you.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Yeah. Before I would go get a tattoo, I would
always like put a sticky note or something on where
I wanted it, and then I would put my socks
on her sports bram and be like ask my teammates
like can you see it? No? Okay, then I'll go
get a tattooed.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Well, now that you're a pro, you're not beholden to
those rules. Now you got a full arm sleeve, You've
got tats everywhere. You have a couple anime inspired ones,
and I love the pees you had. You were inspired
by anime for your first player exclusive sneaker with Jordan Brandon,
head of the paras Olympics.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Why do you love anime so much?
Speaker 1 (07:07):
You even use clips of it when you're posting on
social and stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
It's just something I've I grew up with. Like I
don't even think I realized like, oh, I'm watching anime
until I kind of got older. I was like, oh,
this is actually a whole different genre. Like those were
just the shows that we watched as a kid, like
coming home and the first thing after school was always
like yu gi oh on you know Cartoon Network. And
so it's just something I grew up with and just
now it's cool because it's now it's community as I've
(07:34):
gotten older and just like getting recommendations from people and
just yeah, something that's always been a part of my life.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Well, you and your brother share anime tattoos, You and
your mom have the same Rolling Stones tattoo, You and
your sister have that rose together. The family that goes
through pain together remains together. Is this like the family
ethos here?
Speaker 3 (07:51):
I think we all just get bored and that's just
how we were, like, oh, let's go do this, but
like this, But no, it's it's I like having something
with my family, but also something that's not like very
you know, direct like I don't know mom or something
no offense to anybody, but getting something of like, okay,
we both share this love of whatever, of this anime
(08:12):
or of the Rolling Stones or of rock music. So
it's kind of has like double meaning.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Yeah, I think it's also just like this connection from
Afar and you're you're traveling all over the world literally
for all the basketball and the places that basketball takes you,
so you have this thing on you that feels connected
to them.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Who is the.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Biggest candyass about getting tatted about the pain?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
My brothers? Well, I haven't seen my youngest brother, like
I haven't seen him get one, but my little brother,
like when we got the same tattoo, I was like
just chilling and he was trembling. The bed was like
soaked they had to put the spray on him. So yeah,
my little.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Brother men are never going to beat the allegations that
they can't handle pain, Like we just know better.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
And that's that's more proof.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
One of your tattoos actually came courtesy of one of
your teammates, Marina Hahnnas, who actually also tattooed Sue Bird.
It is one thing to trust your teammate to set
a good pick and roll, but to actually put ink.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Into your body.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
How worried were you when she went in and how
trustworthy were you that she did what she was doing.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
I wasn't worried at all. I think I was like
the key is to have like low expectation. She was
more stressed than I was, for sure, like she was panicked,
like trying to do it even though it was her idea.
But I thought a lot of like my friend's tattooed me,
and she was definitely the most nervous about it. All
my other friends were like they did not care what
they were putting on my body, but the marine was
(09:35):
a lot more shaky.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Oh my gosh, you're crazy.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
But it turned out great.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Yeah, I can't believe that.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Well, when you were at Yukon, despite the dress code,
tattoos didn't slow you down. You had one hundred and
forty eight and three record while you were there, just
unbelievable winning percentage. You get to the w you're drafted
by the Chicago Sky and that first season thirteen and
twenty one. How did you get used to losing? How
did you handle maybe for the first time your life,
not being on a team that dominated.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Yeah, I mean your whole rookie season, you're just trying
to keep your head above water in general, So there
was that was like the least of libraries. I was
like just trying to stay on the team, trying to
stay on the court. It was a lot different. But
it was like not necessarily the wins and losses that
threw me off, but it would be like the little
culture pieces that threw me off, and the things that
were maybe annoying to me as a kid at Yukon,
(10:24):
I actually appreciate now as an adult. You know, just
like running off the court during a time out, you know,
warming up properly, not having your phone during like halftime
or film. It was little things like that where I
was like, oh my gosh, it's like so much more
undisciplined here than at Yukon, and that threw me off
more than anything.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I actually really love that because I do think there
are so many people, even the wildest and most unruly,
who reject structure at first and then understand the place
it can play. Like after you have those fundamental pieces
of structure, then you can be creative and work outside
of them in a way that works with a team.
It's so hard for those of us on the outside
to understand the cultural differences between teams. We could see
(11:05):
the wins and losses, we can hear the players talk
about it, but it certainly sounds like for you, you
understood the winning culture at Yukon came from the little things.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Were you hesitant to speak up about it as a rookie?
Did you feel like you could.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Say anything on the sky about how that lack of
discipline might be contributing to that lack of wins?
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
I was not there.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
I did not dare, like I said, I was just
trying to keep my head aflow and I was just like, well,
I guess I just have to be okay. With this
now and then I would talk to like other Yukon
players in the league and they would say, like, you
have to find a balance of it, like you aren't
a kid anymore, but you still need to like those
are the things that will make you a great player,
and we'll keep you in this league as well. And
I also learned that a lot of W teams and
(11:48):
W players loved playing and having Yukon players on their
team for this reason, So I.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Bet they did.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
You know, you've talked about how you lost confidence early,
you got kind of defeated early in the W since
you had that experience and now are thriving and seem
to have figured out what it is to be a
pro player and excel. Are you able to pass that
knowledge on to youngsters, either on the Storm or on
your team in France or in places like the WNBA
All Star where you have rookies on your team.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Of course I try to talk to I should touch
on rookies as much as I can, and I try
to let them know I've been in their position, like
I haven't. It's taken me a long time to kind
of really find my footing in the league, So I
think that they can maybe resonate a bit more with
things that I say, especially like having AC on the team,
Like AC even knows what it's like to be cut
(12:38):
and to come back and then be a three time
WNBA champion. So just I think it can resonate a
bit more with players when they hear things from players
like me who've had to leave the league and like
go get my confidence or go get you know, my paycheck.
So I tried to just like let them know that
I know that where they're coming from. Because also as
a rookie, I remember feeling like I'm just doing everything wrong. Oh,
(13:00):
and so I try to be that person be like no,
you're not wrong, You're just a rookie, and like here's
how we get through it.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Yeah, Alicia Clark is AC.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
You also are teammates with Dominique Malonga, fellow, you know,
French national team superstar up and comer, but so young,
so young coming into this league. What are the conversations
you've had with her about being patient?
Speaker 3 (13:21):
It's been fun but also like a little stressful for
me because like I've just I feel like a big
sister her. Yeah, I know what she goes through, like
what she comes from I know where she comes from.
I've played in France and I know, like it's completely
different than how we do things here. So it's been
kind of fun like watching her like I know what
she's going to react to to like yeah, that's different, huh,
Like they don't do that. So it's been fun. And
(13:44):
I know a lot of things like the professionalism of
things like she's not used to we don't really have
that in France. But also I'm letting her know that
like I've played for NOE too, I've been a first
year player for NOBE and stuff, and letting her know
like how to how you've scored points with NOE, you know,
like hey, she expects us from you. Just kind of
being like a.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
No Way being Noel Quinn, Noel Quinn.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Excuse me. Yeah, So just trying to be like the
liaison for Dawn because I know she's coming from a
completely different world, So being like Okay, when Noel says this,
you need to do this. If she does this, it's
nothing against you or you know this, like you need
to get better whatever. So just trying to be like
a little bit of a translator British a liaison because
she just comes from a different world.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Yeah, we all heard Rakia Jackson talking about how she's
not going to be the first player in the W
to get dunked on. So spill the tea who has
Dominique dunked on in practice?
Speaker 3 (14:33):
Just our practice players.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Okay, none of you has gotten it yet.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
She's too nice to us.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Okay, I think year two. I think year too. Some
of you are going to get it too. Once she
finds her condence.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
She'll start filling herself a bit more.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Feisty in practice.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
So you started your career with this guy, Like I said,
you ended up with the Sparks, and then you make
it to Seattle, a respected franchise, great facilities. How much
of a benefit do you think it is for players
and a team when they've got it good practice facility,
a great arena, great ownership support. Because as the W
continues to grow and investments are different around the league,
we see some of the teams that don't have new
(15:08):
ownership groups or don't have new capital raises kind of
fallen behind when it comes to that. How much do
you think that in the end, wins and losses and
success depend on that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
It's always easy when all we have to do is
just think about playing basketball. We don't have to worry
about anything else. And I think that was like coming
from a Chicago to a Seattle. I never want to go.
I don't I don't want I don't expect anything less. Now, yeah,
I think that's I can't expect anything less at this point,
like you just get used to a certain standard of
(15:38):
like how things are ran from like an operations standpoint,
where you know, I don't have to worry about if
I'm going to have this on time, I don't have
to worry if I'm going to have food. I don't
have to worry how I travel. Just little things that
I think that allowed me to just put all of
my energy onto the court.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
And we've been able to see it.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Your success has been incredible, both with the Storm and
also with your French team. You've played a lot lot
overseas and a handful of countries in different leagues. How
different is it playing in the W right now versus
European leagues.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
It's very different. It's very different because as the league
is growing, we're seeing a lot less W players playing
overseas too, and so it is becoming like the game
is becoming even even more European where it used to
be like a little bit of a mix. And I
think also the league having unrivaled in AU athletes unlimited
have allowed them to stay in the US too, So
(16:30):
a lot of players, not everyone enjoys going overseas, and
I think that's given them a good option to have
income outside of the W. So the game is becoming, yeah,
much more europe In and it is a bit harder
to I think, to like adjust my game when I'm
overseas to the WNBA.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Yeah, you know you mentioned it.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Players used to have to go overseas to supplement their
W income. Now it feels like the W is starting
to be the standard bearer for women's pro hoops. Are
you hearing conversations on your French team or when you're
over now about getting the leagues there up to the
standard of the W.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Yeah. I think Turkey is trying to do their best
with it, for sure. That's why you see more most
people are playing in Turkey right now, even other Europeans.
Everyone's going to Turkey because they're doing their best to
adjust their league. You know, they're trying to be friendly
with the W and keep W players in their league
and make it work. Yeah, I think the ultimate goal
for everyone is just to play one time a year,
you know, one season. We don't want to have to
play multiple seasons. That's that's the whole point. But unfortunately,
(17:27):
the income in the W just isn't appealing enough for
us to only only play in the W, right it
would make it well, I think that's the ultimate goal,
is for us to only play W, or only play overseas,
or only play un rival whatever, But right now it's
just the income in the W is just not as
competitive with the other league. So that's why you still
see players playing multiple leagues a year.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Yeah, there's the prioritization rule, which you sort of understand
as the W is trying to invest more, spend more.
But as a result, it does make it difficult for
players to try to do both if they want to
supplement their income. And you've talked about this before and
talked about the W sort of feeling hostile to other
leagues around the world, and when you were discussing the
recent CBA negotiations, you said, quote, it's very clear that
(18:08):
the league wants to push away all other leagues. It
would make sense if they were paying us more here,
but it still isn't the case even with the new proposals,
and it's very clear now that they want to push
Unrivaled out, push athletes unlimited out. What kind of messages
or actions are you seeing from the league that inspired
that comment about pushing out AU and Unrivaled.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
They were pretty clear about, you know, well, obviously we're
adding teams, and we can't add this many teams and
like play seven games a week. If they still stays
between May and September, we're just not going to be
able to play every single day, like just whatever. And
so of course we're going to have to lengthen the season,
and I think that is the ultimate goal. But if
(18:46):
they length in the season and force us to not
play in these other leagues, maybe I won't be in
the W if I get a much better offer from
Unrivaled or from another team overseas, and I think a
lot of players are thinking about that. I think Unrivaled
saved the wnbas but this year because a lot of
players made it on time to training camp, which is
(19:06):
ironic that the W doesn't like Unrivaled, because the W
wouldn't have had a lot of players without unrivaled because
of prioritization. So yeah, it's clear that they want to
link in the season, which obviously they need to for expanding.
But again it's it's it's business.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Show me the money, show me the money. Well, in
your season, more games can't go somewhere else more money. Yeah,
it's just economics. How has it been this season? First
season with forty four games? A lot of players have
talked about needing more time to recover, you know, having
a lot of games and back to backs.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
What's been like for you?
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Yeah, it's been a lot more compact this season versus
previous seasons that I've personally played with w even though
I've played you know, a full season three years sgo.
It is my last fool season. It has been pretty strenuous.
You see a lot of like knocking on, but we
have seen like a lot of injuries that I think
have come from fatigue. This is different for us. I mean,
(20:04):
we haven't been playing these many games, and I think
it's just getting more and more strenuous as we add
teams and try to compact it. So yeah, I think
we are a little bit nervous about the expansion teams
because We're just hoping that we expanded in a way
that's responsible for the player safety.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
And expand roster spots on the teams that exist so
that it's easier for players to have that rest or
whatever else.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Two last quick ones for you.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
You skipped your O basket this year to put your
focus on the wn This Storm team. How much of
that felt good, like I really want to prioritize this,
and how much of that felt sad like you wanted
to be there for your French team and it was
sort of a no win.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Same thing when I was suspended in twenty twenty one
was the problem was like the salary camp and not
being able to happen with players on our cert. Unfortunately,
we had three acls in the offseason, and I just
couldn't bring it to myself to leave us with like
nine eight or nine active players because the league salary
cap wouldn't allow us to bring somebody else. Yeah. So,
(21:05):
and even before I came to Seattle, you know, they
were open and they were okay with me going to
your basket if it was really like my dream. But
I couldn't just do I couldn't do that to my
teammates and especially all that Seattle has done for me.
It just it didn't make sense for me to go.
And then of course seeing that France didn't meddle, that
didn't help. But like that obviously made me feel worse
(21:27):
about it. But yeah, I don't know. I don't know
what kind of adjustments we're going to have to make
in the future. Yeah, as as the French Federation. But
it did, it did staying a little bit.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
You will probably receive this advice as well as I
do when my husband gives it to me. But you
can't do it all, is what he always says, what
I'm sad about, and.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
I'm like, that doesn't help.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Fix it, But then you want to prove them wrong.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
I know, I'm like, I can do it all. Watch
me as I pass out, Oh my bed.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Last question for you obviously, like you said, the storm
is a big focus for you, and you guys have
a lot of talent.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
End of the season is it win or bust?
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Or how do you decide what a successful season looks
like with this current iteration with young players and new
players and everything else.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
We talk about peaking at the right time, so it's
hard to say, like win or bust? Because you can't.
That skips a lot of steps. Yeah, you know, it
skips a lot of steps. And I think, okay, we're
going we're basing the season off of quarters, like first
eleven games, second eleven games, and we're just trying to
be better every single quarter and like check our progress
every time. So right now we're focused. We're starting the
second half of the season, so yeah, we just we
(22:35):
can't dip. We just have to keep getting better and better.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
I loved what Yanna sante to Cumbo said about that
after his Milwaukee Bucks were eliminated and someone asked if
it was a failure, and he said, if you can't
find the joy and the win unless you win it all,
then it's not worth it. Like there's so much more
to be found in the successes along the way and
everything else. Well, my success is getting to chat with
you and getting to watch you play. I absolutely love
(22:58):
watching you play. I was scord side for the All
Star Game, and I just especially loved watching you have
fun out there, mess with your teammates, messed with your opponents.
So enjoy the rest of the season was great talking to.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
You, Thank you, sir.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Thanks to Gabby for taking the time, we got to
take another break. When we come back, we get excited
for the return of Biscuits with the Boss, the Diamond Dogs,
and being a goldfish.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Welcome back Slices.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
We love that you're listening, but we wanted to get
in the game every day too, So here's our good
game play of the day. Follow Gabby on social media
and check out those tats. We'll link to her Instagram
in the show notes. We always love to hear from you,
so hit us up on email good game at wondermedianetwork
dot com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven
two two four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe.
(23:49):
Rate and review seriously, do it right now, scroll down
hit five stars. Say something awesome about us. It really
really helps the show and we really really appreciate it, and.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
It's easy to do.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Watch Season four of ted Lasso filming underway. Rating five
out of five stars from Keeley Jones at The Independent
Woman Review.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Ted Lasso is almost Backslices.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Filming is underway around Kansas City, and the cast is
having fun with extracurriculars like an on stage sing along
with Mumford and Sons, whose frontman Marcus Mumford wrote the
show's theme song.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
They'll be out filming Across.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
The Pond later in the year, with ted Lasso reportedly
returning to England to coach a women's soccer team.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Guys, we needed.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Ted Lasso during COVID, and we need it even more
during the apocalyptic, fascist, authoritarian hellscape that is twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
In fact, we don't just need it, we are owed it.
We deserve it.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
To paraphrase Roy Kent, you deserve a show that makes
you feel like you've been struck by lightning. So here's
hoping Season four heals us and brings us the kind
of soul saving joy. A television show absolutely should not
be settled with the response its.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Ability of giving us. Ted Lasso. You might be our
only hope.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening,
See you tomorrow. Good game, Gabby, Good game, AFC Richmond.
You having to wait until the next season of Ted last, Well,
I'm not gonna make it.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Y'll please give me something joyful.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts 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.
(25:42):
Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch and
Gianna Palmer. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones. Production assistance
from Avery Loftus and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're spelling
mischievous with a Y like Paige Becker's.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
From here on out do your thing, Rook. The world
is yours.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
In fact, we're calling Merriam Webster right now to have
them make that change official. In case you missed it,
we'll link to the Dallas Wing spelling b in the
show notes. It's Tuesday, July twenty eighth, and on today's
show we'll be chatting with Seattle storm forward and French
national team star Gabby Williams about the challenges that came
with joining the WNBA, her priorities for the ongoing CBA negotiations,
(00:31):
how her tattoos connect her to her family, and how
she got good at hiding those tattoos while playing for Yukon.
Plus a rare home loss, go in two for two
and it's time to dust off that believe poster. It's
all coming out right after this welcome back slices. Here's
(00:52):
what you need to know today. Let's start with swimming Worlds.
Two days into the World Championships in Singapore and Canadian
star Summer McIntosh already has two gold medals. One day
after winning the four hundred meter free. She took home
the world title in the two hundred meter individual medley.
At these World Championships, McIntosh could become the second swimmer
(01:13):
to ever win five individual gold medals at a single
World Championships.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
That's a feat achieved.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Previously only by Michael Phelps, and the race many consider
the main event, the eight hundred meter freestyle competition featuring
McIntosh and Katie Ldeki, is still to come, with preliminary
heats on Thursday night and the final on Saturday morning.
Also at the World Championship, Scretchen Walsh won Team USA's
first gold medal at the meet on Monday, winning the
one hundred meter butterfly in World Championship record time to
(01:42):
the WNBA, The Minnesota Lynx's home win streak has ended.
The Atlanta Dream handed the Links their first home court
loss of the season on Sunday, winning the contest ninety
to eighty six. Britney Griner led the Dream with the
season high twenty two points along with four rebounds and
three assists. The ten time All Star has scored in
double figures in six of the team's eight games in
(02:03):
the month of July, including five of six games on
their current road trip.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
More hoops news.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
South Carolina forward Ashland Watkins has announced she's sitting out
the twenty twenty five to twenty sixth season, but she
does hope to return for her senior season next year.
A quick refresher if you forget Watkins' story. She was
a member of the game Cocks NCAA championship team in
twenty twenty four, but she was suspended for the start
of last season after she was arrested in August of
twenty twenty four on assault, battery, and kidnapping charges. Now
(02:32):
those charges were later dismissed after she completed a pre
trial intervention program, and she returned to the team briefly
before suffering a season ending ACL tear.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
In January.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
On Instagram, Watkins wrote, quote, as most of you know,
this past year has been a roller coaster for me.
I usually like to keep my personal life private, but
every time I step out into the community, I realize
I'm not alone in this journey.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
So many of you have shown me love and encouragement, and.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Because of that, I feel like I owe you a
little insight into what's been going on. I also want
the younger ones who look up to me to know
that tough times don't define you, they make you stronger.
With everything that's happened this year, I'm going to take
some time off to focus on myself, my community, my faith,
and my family so that I can grow as an
individual and attempt to master this journey of life.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
End quote to Soccer.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
The US women's national team has announced it will play
three friendlies in October and will honor two legends in
the process. The US is set to play Portugal twice,
with one game in Chester, Pennsylvania, and the other in
East Hartford, Connecticut. The final game, which will be held
at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, is against an opponent
yet to be determined. Alex Morgan, who retired last year,
(03:38):
will be honored ahead of the game in Chester, while
Alyssa Mayor will be recognized in East Hartford, not far
from her hometown of.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Stratford, Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
We'll link to the full US women's national team schedule
and tickets in the show notes.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
To Tennis.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Over the weekend, four time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka
announced she's no longer working with coach Patrick Mori Tooglu.
The news comes after Osaka lost her second round match
at the Time Open, and ahead of Osaka's first match
at this week's National Bank Open in Canada. Osaka hired
Moritoglu just under a year ago, and in her Instagram
story on Sunday, she thanked him, writing, quote Mayor C. Patrick,
(04:12):
it was such a great experience learning from you, Wishing
you nothing but the best. You were one of the
coolest people I've ever met, and I'm sure I'll see
you around end quote to cycling. The Tour de France
Fem is underway and after three stages, Mary and Voss
leads the overall standings and will wear the yellow jersey
for stage four on Tuesday. Monday's stage featured a sprint
race following two days in the hills. Lorena Weebis won
(04:35):
the stage after a crash took out a handful of
top cyclists, including previous Tour de France Fem champion Demi Voloring.
While those involved in the crash won't lose time in
their general classification standing as they were just three kilometers
from the finish, it's unclear whether Voloring and the others
were injured too severely to continue the nine day event.
We got to take a quick break, y'all when we
(04:56):
come back. I caught up with Gabby Williams last week.
You'll hear our fascinating and very honest conversation.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Next joining us now.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
She's an American French hooper who plays with the Seattle
Storm and previously played with the Chicago sky, La Sparks
and pro teams in Hungary, France and Turkey. A member
of the French national team, she went silver with her
squad at the twenty twenty four Pais Games and brons
at the twenty twenty Tokyo Games. A former Yukon Husky
who went to four straight final fours and went back
to back national.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Championships in twenty fifteen to twenty sixteen.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
And at two time Gatorade Nevada Girls Track and Field
Athlete of the Year. In high school, she made her
first WNBA All Star team this year. She got her
first fake tattoo when she was twelve, but the one
she's got now are real. Stormhead coach Noel Quinn calls
her the French army Knife. It's Gabby Williams. Hi, Gabby, Hi,
thanks for having me. Yeah, thanks for coming on. I
gotta start with the tattoos. I just love them, and
(05:54):
I love the creative way you had to hide your
first tattoo, big ol' rose on your shoulder. You're playing
at Uka, where visible tattoos are discouraged, so tell us
about your creative fix.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah, we would test it out a few things. It
was so ironic because Chris Daily, she did not like tattoos,
but the things she hated more than tattoos was tape
that cover tattoos or make up that cover tattoos. So
we tried to get like, She's like, no, that's even uglier,
Like it doesn't. She liked us to all have a
good aesthetic in our jerseys, and so we made it
(06:24):
look like an injury with canisio tape. So I just
had a sore shoulder for four years.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I can't believe they never figured that
out and they never got you a fix. When you
wanted to add new tats, you had to like test
out placement in your uniform, right, so they were all
hidden all over you.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Yeah. Before I would go get a tattoo, I would
always like put a sticky note or something on where
I wanted it, and then I would put my socks
on her sports bram and be like ask my teammates
like can you see it? No? Okay, then I'll go
get a tattooed.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Well, now that you're a pro, you're not beholden to
those rules. Now you got a full arm sleeve, You've
got tats everywhere. You have a couple anime inspired ones,
and I love the pees you had. You were inspired
by anime for your first player exclusive sneaker with Jordan Brandon,
head of the paras Olympics.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Why do you love anime so much?
Speaker 1 (07:07):
You even use clips of it when you're posting on
social and stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
It's just something I've I grew up with. Like I
don't even think I realized like, oh, I'm watching anime
until I kind of got older. I was like, oh,
this is actually a whole different genre. Like those were
just the shows that we watched as a kid, like
coming home and the first thing after school was always
like yu gi oh on you know Cartoon Network. And
so it's just something I grew up with and just
now it's cool because it's now it's community as I've
(07:34):
gotten older and just like getting recommendations from people and
just yeah, something that's always been a part of my life.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Well, you and your brother share anime tattoos, You and
your mom have the same Rolling Stones tattoo, You and
your sister have that rose together. The family that goes
through pain together remains together. Is this like the family
ethos here?
Speaker 3 (07:51):
I think we all just get bored and that's just
how we were, like, oh, let's go do this, but
like this, But no, it's it's I like having something
with my family, but also something that's not like very
you know, direct like I don't know mom or something
no offense to anybody, but getting something of like, okay,
we both share this love of whatever, of this anime
(08:12):
or of the Rolling Stones or of rock music. So
it's kind of has like double meaning.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Yeah, I think it's also just like this connection from
Afar and you're you're traveling all over the world literally
for all the basketball and the places that basketball takes you,
so you have this thing on you that feels connected
to them.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Who is the.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Biggest candyass about getting tatted about the pain?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
My brothers? Well, I haven't seen my youngest brother, like
I haven't seen him get one, but my little brother,
like when we got the same tattoo, I was like
just chilling and he was trembling. The bed was like
soaked they had to put the spray on him. So yeah,
my little.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Brother men are never going to beat the allegations that
they can't handle pain, Like we just know better.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
And that's that's more proof.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
One of your tattoos actually came courtesy of one of
your teammates, Marina Hahnnas, who actually also tattooed Sue Bird.
It is one thing to trust your teammate to set
a good pick and roll, but to actually put ink.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Into your body.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
How worried were you when she went in and how
trustworthy were you that she did what she was doing.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
I wasn't worried at all. I think I was like
the key is to have like low expectation. She was
more stressed than I was, for sure, like she was panicked,
like trying to do it even though it was her idea.
But I thought a lot of like my friend's tattooed me,
and she was definitely the most nervous about it. All
my other friends were like they did not care what
they were putting on my body, but the marine was
(09:35):
a lot more shaky.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Oh my gosh, you're crazy.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
But it turned out great.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Yeah, I can't believe that.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Well, when you were at Yukon, despite the dress code,
tattoos didn't slow you down. You had one hundred and
forty eight and three record while you were there, just
unbelievable winning percentage. You get to the w you're drafted
by the Chicago Sky and that first season thirteen and
twenty one. How did you get used to losing? How
did you handle maybe for the first time your life,
not being on a team that dominated.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Yeah, I mean your whole rookie season, you're just trying
to keep your head above water in general, So there
was that was like the least of libraries. I was
like just trying to stay on the team, trying to
stay on the court. It was a lot different. But
it was like not necessarily the wins and losses that
threw me off, but it would be like the little
culture pieces that threw me off, and the things that
were maybe annoying to me as a kid at Yukon,
(10:24):
I actually appreciate now as an adult. You know, just
like running off the court during a time out, you know,
warming up properly, not having your phone during like halftime
or film. It was little things like that where I
was like, oh my gosh, it's like so much more
undisciplined here than at Yukon, and that threw me off
more than anything.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I actually really love that because I do think there
are so many people, even the wildest and most unruly,
who reject structure at first and then understand the place
it can play. Like after you have those fundamental pieces
of structure, then you can be creative and work outside
of them in a way that works with a team.
It's so hard for those of us on the outside
to understand the cultural differences between teams. We could see
(11:05):
the wins and losses, we can hear the players talk
about it, but it certainly sounds like for you, you
understood the winning culture at Yukon came from the little things.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Were you hesitant to speak up about it as a rookie?
Did you feel like you could.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Say anything on the sky about how that lack of
discipline might be contributing to that lack of wins?
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
I was not there.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
I did not dare, like I said, I was just
trying to keep my head aflow and I was just like, well,
I guess I just have to be okay. With this
now and then I would talk to like other Yukon
players in the league and they would say, like, you
have to find a balance of it, like you aren't
a kid anymore, but you still need to like those
are the things that will make you a great player,
and we'll keep you in this league as well. And
I also learned that a lot of W teams and
(11:48):
W players loved playing and having Yukon players on their
team for this reason, So I.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Bet they did.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
You know, you've talked about how you lost confidence early,
you got kind of defeated early in the W since
you had that experience and now are thriving and seem
to have figured out what it is to be a
pro player and excel. Are you able to pass that
knowledge on to youngsters, either on the Storm or on
your team in France or in places like the WNBA
All Star where you have rookies on your team.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Of course I try to talk to I should touch
on rookies as much as I can, and I try
to let them know I've been in their position, like
I haven't. It's taken me a long time to kind
of really find my footing in the league, So I
think that they can maybe resonate a bit more with
things that I say, especially like having AC on the team,
Like AC even knows what it's like to be cut
(12:38):
and to come back and then be a three time
WNBA champion. So just I think it can resonate a
bit more with players when they hear things from players
like me who've had to leave the league and like
go get my confidence or go get you know, my paycheck.
So I tried to just like let them know that
I know that where they're coming from. Because also as
a rookie, I remember feeling like I'm just doing everything wrong. Oh,
(13:00):
and so I try to be that person be like no,
you're not wrong, You're just a rookie, and like here's
how we get through it.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Yeah, Alicia Clark is AC.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
You also are teammates with Dominique Malonga, fellow, you know,
French national team superstar up and comer, but so young,
so young coming into this league. What are the conversations
you've had with her about being patient?
Speaker 3 (13:21):
It's been fun but also like a little stressful for
me because like I've just I feel like a big
sister her. Yeah, I know what she goes through, like
what she comes from I know where she comes from.
I've played in France and I know, like it's completely
different than how we do things here. So it's been
kind of fun like watching her like I know what
she's going to react to to like yeah, that's different, huh,
Like they don't do that. So it's been fun. And
(13:44):
I know a lot of things like the professionalism of
things like she's not used to we don't really have
that in France. But also I'm letting her know that
like I've played for NOE too, I've been a first
year player for NOBE and stuff, and letting her know
like how to how you've scored points with NOE, you know,
like hey, she expects us from you. Just kind of
being like a.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
No Way being Noel Quinn, Noel Quinn.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Excuse me. Yeah, So just trying to be like the
liaison for Dawn because I know she's coming from a
completely different world, So being like Okay, when Noel says this,
you need to do this. If she does this, it's
nothing against you or you know this, like you need
to get better whatever. So just trying to be like
a little bit of a translator British a liaison because
she just comes from a different world.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Yeah, we all heard Rakia Jackson talking about how she's
not going to be the first player in the W
to get dunked on. So spill the tea who has
Dominique dunked on in practice?
Speaker 3 (14:33):
Just our practice players.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Okay, none of you has gotten it yet.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
She's too nice to us.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Okay, I think year two. I think year too. Some
of you are going to get it too. Once she
finds her condence.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
She'll start filling herself a bit more.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Feisty in practice.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
So you started your career with this guy, Like I said,
you ended up with the Sparks, and then you make
it to Seattle, a respected franchise, great facilities. How much
of a benefit do you think it is for players
and a team when they've got it good practice facility,
a great arena, great ownership support. Because as the W
continues to grow and investments are different around the league,
we see some of the teams that don't have new
(15:08):
ownership groups or don't have new capital raises kind of
fallen behind when it comes to that. How much do
you think that in the end, wins and losses and
success depend on that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
It's always easy when all we have to do is
just think about playing basketball. We don't have to worry
about anything else. And I think that was like coming
from a Chicago to a Seattle. I never want to go.
I don't I don't want I don't expect anything less. Now, yeah,
I think that's I can't expect anything less at this point,
like you just get used to a certain standard of
(15:38):
like how things are ran from like an operations standpoint,
where you know, I don't have to worry about if
I'm going to have this on time, I don't have
to worry if I'm going to have food. I don't
have to worry how I travel. Just little things that
I think that allowed me to just put all of
my energy onto the court.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
And we've been able to see it.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Your success has been incredible, both with the Storm and
also with your French team. You've played a lot lot
overseas and a handful of countries in different leagues. How
different is it playing in the W right now versus
European leagues.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
It's very different. It's very different because as the league
is growing, we're seeing a lot less W players playing
overseas too, and so it is becoming like the game
is becoming even even more European where it used to
be like a little bit of a mix. And I
think also the league having unrivaled in AU athletes unlimited
have allowed them to stay in the US too, So
(16:30):
a lot of players, not everyone enjoys going overseas, and
I think that's given them a good option to have
income outside of the W. So the game is becoming, yeah,
much more europe In and it is a bit harder
to I think, to like adjust my game when I'm
overseas to the WNBA.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Yeah, you know you mentioned it.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Players used to have to go overseas to supplement their
W income. Now it feels like the W is starting
to be the standard bearer for women's pro hoops. Are
you hearing conversations on your French team or when you're
over now about getting the leagues there up to the
standard of the W.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Yeah. I think Turkey is trying to do their best
with it, for sure. That's why you see more most
people are playing in Turkey right now, even other Europeans.
Everyone's going to Turkey because they're doing their best to
adjust their league. You know, they're trying to be friendly
with the W and keep W players in their league
and make it work. Yeah, I think the ultimate goal
for everyone is just to play one time a year,
you know, one season. We don't want to have to
play multiple seasons. That's that's the whole point. But unfortunately,
(17:27):
the income in the W just isn't appealing enough for
us to only only play in the W, right it
would make it well, I think that's the ultimate goal,
is for us to only play W, or only play overseas,
or only play un rival whatever, But right now it's
just the income in the W is just not as
competitive with the other league. So that's why you still
see players playing multiple leagues a year.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Yeah, there's the prioritization rule, which you sort of understand
as the W is trying to invest more, spend more.
But as a result, it does make it difficult for
players to try to do both if they want to
supplement their income. And you've talked about this before and
talked about the W sort of feeling hostile to other
leagues around the world, and when you were discussing the
recent CBA negotiations, you said, quote, it's very clear that
(18:08):
the league wants to push away all other leagues. It
would make sense if they were paying us more here,
but it still isn't the case even with the new proposals,
and it's very clear now that they want to push
Unrivaled out, push athletes unlimited out. What kind of messages
or actions are you seeing from the league that inspired
that comment about pushing out AU and Unrivaled.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
They were pretty clear about, you know, well, obviously we're
adding teams, and we can't add this many teams and
like play seven games a week. If they still stays
between May and September, we're just not going to be
able to play every single day, like just whatever. And
so of course we're going to have to lengthen the season,
and I think that is the ultimate goal. But if
(18:46):
they length in the season and force us to not
play in these other leagues, maybe I won't be in
the W if I get a much better offer from
Unrivaled or from another team overseas, and I think a
lot of players are thinking about that. I think Unrivaled
saved the wnbas but this year because a lot of
players made it on time to training camp, which is
(19:06):
ironic that the W doesn't like Unrivaled, because the W
wouldn't have had a lot of players without unrivaled because
of prioritization. So yeah, it's clear that they want to
link in the season, which obviously they need to for expanding.
But again it's it's it's business.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Show me the money, show me the money. Well, in
your season, more games can't go somewhere else more money. Yeah,
it's just economics. How has it been this season? First
season with forty four games? A lot of players have
talked about needing more time to recover, you know, having
a lot of games and back to backs.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
What's been like for you?
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Yeah, it's been a lot more compact this season versus
previous seasons that I've personally played with w even though
I've played you know, a full season three years sgo.
It is my last fool season. It has been pretty strenuous.
You see a lot of like knocking on, but we
have seen like a lot of injuries that I think
have come from fatigue. This is different for us. I mean,
(20:04):
we haven't been playing these many games, and I think
it's just getting more and more strenuous as we add
teams and try to compact it. So yeah, I think
we are a little bit nervous about the expansion teams
because We're just hoping that we expanded in a way
that's responsible for the player safety.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
And expand roster spots on the teams that exist so
that it's easier for players to have that rest or
whatever else.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Two last quick ones for you.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
You skipped your O basket this year to put your
focus on the wn This Storm team. How much of
that felt good, like I really want to prioritize this,
and how much of that felt sad like you wanted
to be there for your French team and it was
sort of a no win.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Same thing when I was suspended in twenty twenty one
was the problem was like the salary camp and not
being able to happen with players on our cert. Unfortunately,
we had three acls in the offseason, and I just
couldn't bring it to myself to leave us with like
nine eight or nine active players because the league salary
cap wouldn't allow us to bring somebody else. Yeah. So,
(21:05):
and even before I came to Seattle, you know, they
were open and they were okay with me going to
your basket if it was really like my dream. But
I couldn't just do I couldn't do that to my
teammates and especially all that Seattle has done for me.
It just it didn't make sense for me to go.
And then of course seeing that France didn't meddle, that
didn't help. But like that obviously made me feel worse
(21:27):
about it. But yeah, I don't know. I don't know
what kind of adjustments we're going to have to make
in the future. Yeah, as as the French Federation. But
it did, it did staying a little bit.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
You will probably receive this advice as well as I
do when my husband gives it to me. But you
can't do it all, is what he always says, what
I'm sad about, and.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
I'm like, that doesn't help.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Fix it, But then you want to prove them wrong.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
I know, I'm like, I can do it all. Watch
me as I pass out, Oh my bed.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Last question for you obviously, like you said, the storm
is a big focus for you, and you guys have
a lot of talent.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
End of the season is it win or bust?
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Or how do you decide what a successful season looks
like with this current iteration with young players and new
players and everything else.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
We talk about peaking at the right time, so it's
hard to say, like win or bust? Because you can't.
That skips a lot of steps. Yeah, you know, it
skips a lot of steps. And I think, okay, we're
going we're basing the season off of quarters, like first
eleven games, second eleven games, and we're just trying to
be better every single quarter and like check our progress
every time. So right now we're focused. We're starting the
second half of the season, so yeah, we just we
(22:35):
can't dip. We just have to keep getting better and better.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
I loved what Yanna sante to Cumbo said about that
after his Milwaukee Bucks were eliminated and someone asked if
it was a failure, and he said, if you can't
find the joy and the win unless you win it all,
then it's not worth it. Like there's so much more
to be found in the successes along the way and
everything else. Well, my success is getting to chat with
you and getting to watch you play. I absolutely love
(22:58):
watching you play. I was scord side for the All
Star Game, and I just especially loved watching you have
fun out there, mess with your teammates, messed with your opponents.
So enjoy the rest of the season was great talking to.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
You, Thank you, sir.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Thanks to Gabby for taking the time, we got to
take another break. When we come back, we get excited
for the return of Biscuits with the Boss, the Diamond Dogs,
and being a goldfish.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Welcome back Slices.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
We love that you're listening, but we wanted to get
in the game every day too, So here's our good
game play of the day. Follow Gabby on social media
and check out those tats. We'll link to her Instagram
in the show notes. We always love to hear from you,
so hit us up on email good game at wondermedianetwork
dot com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven
two two four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe.
(23:49):
Rate and review seriously, do it right now, scroll down
hit five stars. Say something awesome about us. It really
really helps the show and we really really appreciate it, and.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
It's easy to do.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Watch Season four of ted Lasso filming underway. Rating five
out of five stars from Keeley Jones at The Independent
Woman Review.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Ted Lasso is almost Backslices.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Filming is underway around Kansas City, and the cast is
having fun with extracurriculars like an on stage sing along
with Mumford and Sons, whose frontman Marcus Mumford wrote the
show's theme song.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
They'll be out filming Across.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
The Pond later in the year, with ted Lasso reportedly
returning to England to coach a women's soccer team.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Guys, we needed.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Ted Lasso during COVID, and we need it even more
during the apocalyptic, fascist, authoritarian hellscape that is twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
In fact, we don't just need it, we are owed it.
We deserve it.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
To paraphrase Roy Kent, you deserve a show that makes
you feel like you've been struck by lightning. So here's
hoping Season four heals us and brings us the kind
of soul saving joy. A television show absolutely should not
be settled with the response its.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Ability of giving us. Ted Lasso. You might be our
only hope.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening,
See you tomorrow. Good game, Gabby, Good game, AFC Richmond.
You having to wait until the next season of Ted last, Well,
I'm not gonna make it.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Y'll please give me something joyful.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts 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.
(25:42):
Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch and
Gianna Palmer. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones. Production assistance
from Avery Loftus and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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