October 3, 2025 • 31 mins
With the WNBA Finals tipping off tonight, Big Citrus gets together to preview the best-of-seven(!) Aces-Mercury series and to discuss the continued fallout from Napheesa Collier’s comments, including what Caitlin Clark had to say in her exit interview. Plus, Slices and Swifties unite, dress like the best (of all time) and a whole buncha pucks and gay shit.
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The NWSL schedule can be found here
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Read the San Diego Union-Tribune’s report on the lawsuit Jill Ellis is facing here
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Celebrate pucks & gay shit! Amanda Boulier’s wedding photo dump is here and Sidney Morin’s is here
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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 listening
to Taylor Swift's new album Life of a Showgirl on
repeat for the next forty eight hours, taking just one
quick break to see Chapel Ronan concert, then right back
to Life.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Of a Showgirl. Please do not disturb.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
It's Friday, October third, Happy Friday, Slices and swifties. On
today's show, Big Citrus is getting back together once again.
We'll talk the latest on the fallout from NAFISA Collier's comments,
plus a preview of the WNBA Finals tip it off
tonight from the stars who need to show up and
show out, to the X factors that might make all
the difference, and we put our pride on the line
with some predictions.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Plus Jill Ellis gets hit with the lawsuit.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
The w's all rookie team is full of stars and
a whole bunch of pucks.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
E gaish.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
It's all coming up right after this Welcome back Slices.
Here's what you need to know today.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Hoops.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
The WNBA Finals tip off tonight at eight pm Eastern
on ESPN. It's the second seed Las Vegas Aces hosting
the fourth seed, Phoenix Mercury in Game one of the
best of seven championship series. Vegas will host Game two
as well, before the series shifts to the Mercury's PHX
Arena for games three and four. If necessary, Vegas hosts
Game five, Phoenix Game six, and if we're all real lucky,
(01:23):
we'll get a winner take all Game seven back in
Sin City. More on that series with Big Citrus. In
just a couple minutes, Hoops continued, we got an update
on the status of Minnesota Links Darnafisa Collier, who you
remember went down with the left ankle injury in Game
three of their WNBA semi final series with the Phoenix Mercury.
Per reporting from ESPN's Ramona Shelbourne, Collier sustained a Grade
(01:45):
two tear of three ligaments in her ankle and a
muscle in her shin after that incidental contact with Mercury
forward Alyssa Thomas. The injury has a minimum six week
recovery time, so Callier would not have been available if
the Links had advanced to the finals based on that timeline.
No Collier, who's also a co creator of the unrivaled
three on three league that set to play at second
season in January could be cleared to play by the
(02:07):
time it starts, assuming all goes well. Speaking of Callier,
her comments on Tuesday about WNBA leadership continue to reverberate
around the league, inspiring debates from talking heads, some of
them spot on, some of them involving folks need to
learn that her name is Nefisa, not Nefisia or Neficia,
and also eliciting responses from more of her fellow w players,
(02:28):
including the Indiana Fevers Caitlin Clark. In her exit interview
on Thursday. Here's a bit of what Clark had to say.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I have great respect for Fee and I think she
made a lot of very valid points, and you know,
I think what people need to understand, you know, we
need great leadership in this time across all levels.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
This is.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Straight up the most important moment in this league's history.
What this league's been around for twenty five plus years,
and this is a moment we have to capitalize on.
So that's honestly what I would say. I think there's
you know Fisa at all.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Clark continued, we are.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
In the biggest moment in WNBA history. There's no denying that.
Everybody knows that, and everybody that's in a place in
power has a true responsibility, and even myself, we have
a responsibility to make sure that this game and is
in a great place going forward with the CBA and
you know, caring for our players and you know, building
(03:23):
this league to make sure it's in a great spot
for many years to come, because you all know I
grew up as a huge fan of this league and
I'm going to do everything I can to make this
the league that you know, a five year old, a
ten year old, a fifteen year old, a girl in
college is really proud of to come into and to
be able to put a WNBA uniform on, and you know,
(03:44):
that's what they dream of and then hopefully they can
accomplish that goal because that's exactly who I was, and
that's you know, really at the end of the day,
like I hope that's what my legacy can be, is
just how I impacted the impacted people to be able
to to maybe want to be in the WNBA, but
to really just achieve what I've they want to achieve.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
We'll talk a little bit more about Clark's comments with
Big Citrus later in the show. More w the WNBA
announced its All Rookie team earlier this week, and it's
the first time since twenty fourteen that the top four
draft picks in a w class made the cut. Dallas
Wings guard and Rookie of the Year Pagebeckers, Dominique Malonga
of the Seattle Storm, Sonya Citron, and Kiki erie Fen
of the Washington Mystics, and international signing Janee Salon of
(04:23):
the Golden State Valkyries rounded out the squad class of
twenty twenty five baled out.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
In Footy News.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
The antipenultimate, third to last week of the NWSL season
begins tonight. The Kansas City Current has already clinched the
shield and the number one seed in the playoffs, and
the Washington Spirit have also clinched a postseason birth, but
the rest of the slots are wide open. In fact,
the race is so tight that no other teams can
clinch a playoff berth this weekend, but two teams can
(04:51):
be eliminated. Both the Utah Royals and BAFC will be
fighting to keep their postseason hopes alive and worth noting
when the Orlando Pride visit the Houston Dash at eight
pm Eastern tonight on Prime Video Orlando could leapfrog the
Seattle Rain and slide into fourth place. That's the only
game on the schedule this evening. We'll link to the
full weekend schedule in our show notes. Also, the Golden
(05:12):
Boot Race is still alive and well Casey's ten Wi
Shwingo holds the top spot with fourteen goals, followed by
Gotham FSI's Estaire Gonzales at thirteen. Both players will be
in action with their squads over the weekend. More soccer news.
FIFA CHI Football officer, former US women's national team head coach,
and former San Diego WAVEFC president Jill Ellis is being
(05:32):
sued by Wave owners Lauren Lightman and Arthur Levine through
an entity that purchased the Wave last October. Per lawsuit
filed Monday in San Diego Superior Court. Lightman and Levine
alleged that Ellis lied, claiming she'd stay through purchase negotiations
last year, but then resigned two days after the sale
was complete for what was then an NWSL record price. Ellis, Lightman,
(05:53):
and Levine became acquainted prior to their Wave involvement, and
the suit claims that Ellis told the billionaire couple she
would quote god the team for many years to come
end quote. Now, the lawsuit didn't clarify whether Ellis put
that statement in writing or in a contract, but it
does say that she never intended to stay and was
in negotiations with FIFA around her current role with the
governing body while simultaneously making assurances to Lightman and Levine.
(06:16):
The suit officially accuses Ellis and other unnamed defendants of
engaging in intentional and negligent misrepresentation, concealment, and false promise,
allegedly leading to the loss of forty million dollars in
the Wave's total value. An attorney representing Ellis claims the
suit was filed in retaliation because she asked the owners
to pay over one point two million dollars in deferred
(06:38):
compensation she alleges is owed as part of her previous
contract with the Wave. This is the third legal matter
spawning from Ellis's time with the Wave. She filed the
defamation lawsuit against a former team videographer who alleged an
abusive environment at the club, and that former employee and
four others sued both the Wave and the NWSL, alleging
that those entities failed to act on the workplace culture complaints.
(06:59):
We'll keep you update on this as we hear more,
and we'll link to the San Diego Union Tribune's original
reporting in our show notes.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
More soccer up in the Northern Super League.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
With a few weeks left in the regular season, the
league's top four teams are in a pack well ahead
of the bottom two, so the postseason picture is complete
with each of those four teams already clinching a playoff berth.
The postseason will work as follows, so those four squads AFC, Toronto,
Ottawa Rapid FC, Montreal Roses FC, and Vancouver Rise FC
will play two leg semifinals early next month. That means
(07:31):
each matchup will have one home and one away game,
and the two teams who score the most total goals
combined in those contests will advance to the final. The
NFL Final will be played November fifteenth at Bimo Field
in Toronto. We'll link where you can grab tickets in
our show notes.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
We got to take a quick break.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
When we come back, Big Citrus gets you ready for
the WNBA finals. Be right back, Welcome back, slices, Happy Friday.
We're going to get into a big finals preview, but
first we wanted to address an email from a Slice
(08:10):
named Iris and the comments that Kaitlin Clark made in
her exit interview on Thursday. You might recall that we
mentioned that Caitlin Clark did not comment, but Lexi, who
was actually prepping for the game, had time to check
out Feas' comments and make a statement. Slice Iris writes
in and says Lexi was doing pregame media and answered
questions about Fees' comments. Asia, when asked pregame, claims she
(08:32):
hadn't heard them, but did comment postgame. Did she read
or listen on the way off the court after the game?
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Question Mark?
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Caitlyn wasn't playing and hasn't had media availability since All Star.
If she had issued a written statement, it would have
overshadowed everyone else's response and fees original comments, and I
doubt a mere retweet or like would have satisfied Big Citrus.
I don't know when you recorded, but since you included
Kelsey's statement about her medical situation, by the time that
was posted on Wednesday, it was known that Caitlin would
be sitting for an exit interview on Thursday. Was it
(08:58):
not reasonable to think you would adress the comments then,
which she in fact did and fully supported Fee. She
also said she hadn't heard the Kathy story about her
that Fee recalled, so it wasn't like she could have
a statement prepared in response. Some people had speculated that,
since they share the same agent, Fee would have given
Kaitlin a heads up, but that apparently didn't happen. And
I'm not knocking Fee at all. I like her and
support what she said. I don't know if Kaitlyn's comments
(09:19):
today will be enough for Big Citrus, and if they
are not, that's fine, but the rush to judgment here
was unfair and unnecessary and unfortunately somewhat predictable. You could
have said that Caitlyn hasn't spoken yet and that you
hope she would in the future, which she did within
forty eight hours, but instead you went right for the
most negative conclusion. I would expect better and producer Alex
Caitlyn did attend the CBA meeting at All Star in Indy.
What you said was factually incorrect, and even if you
(09:41):
don't address anything else said on the podcast, this should
be corrected. Thank you for coverage of women's sports IRIS. Okay,
let's start with that last thing. Quick, Alex, because I
think your intended statement was not to imply that she
didn't attend, but that the injury might have impacted her attendants.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Yeah, more that the injury overshadowed that. So Caitlyn announced
that she was planning to attend the CBA meeting had
of a Tuesday night game that I was at against
the Connecticut Sun in Boston. That was big news that
she was going to attend the CBA meetings. Then she
got injured in that same game. Then the news became
that she wasn't going to be playing. And so I
(10:17):
didn't mean to imply that she didn't attend the CBA meetings.
I just meant that she had made news prior to
the injury that she was planning on being engaged in them.
So apologies for any confusion there.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Yeah, And I think as far as the point being
made about us rushing to criticize, I think there's some
fairness to that. I think that not every single player responded,
but because she was the one who was called out
directly and hadn't posted anything even the ten out of
ten that Angel said or the stand with Fee, essentially
(10:48):
that Paige Becker's posted that the absence of anything stood
out to us, not that we thought necessarily she needed
a written or spoken statement. And I think it's a
good point from Iris that she hasn't done me availability
well in street clothes, so perhaps it would have been
too much to expect that they would summon her to
speak on Feas's comments before this decisive Game five and
(11:09):
take focus away from the game being played.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
I do want to clarify one thing, though, because it
wasn't just that she didn't say anything. Multiple news outlets,
including The Indianapolis Star, reached out to The Fever and said,
does Caitlyn have any comment on this? And the reply
was no comment And to reply with a no comment
instead of a response, then I think is notable, even
(11:32):
though she did the media availability two days later with
her exit interview.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Yeah, I think sometimes no comment says something.
Speaker 5 (11:40):
Exactly Yes, I agree, and I feel like, you know,
in regards to my reaction to all of it, that's
exactly what it was hinging on. I'm like, if you
went to Caitlyn and she intentionally said I have no comment,
then I take a big freaking issue with that because
of everything that we said in the episode, Because you know,
PI uh, kind of went to bat for her and
her com and all that good stuff. But to your point, Iris,
(12:02):
I am satisfied with these comments. I'm very satisfied with
these comments. I'm very happy that, you know, it seems
like she took the time to really look at what
Fee said and come up with something thoughtful and response
and in support. And I think at the end of
the day, that's what we were all asking for, right,
That's what we were all looking for, and she gave
that to us. But I also don't think I don't
(12:23):
think it was so much a rush to judgment as
like you said, Sarah, She's commented on so many little
things since she's been out, just off the cuff. You
mentioned the Angelies ten out of ten, like we've seen
Caitlin make little you know, Snyder marks on on social media,
which I tend to actually really love, And that's all
it really would have taken to satisfy that. But I
am happy that she said something. I'm happy that you
(12:44):
spoke up, Iris, and I'm happy that we've gotten the
opportunity to clear the air.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah, I do want to clarify, and I think as
much as it might not be fair when you draw
the amount of attention when you have the amount of pull,
when your influence is as big as it is, and
when the claim around and about you, which is no
fault of her own, are about the amount of weight
she has in this league that brings with it an expectation.
(13:08):
And so again, I'm so grateful she said something. We
played you to those statements. I thought she did a
great job speaking to it. And in the end, it
doesn't really matter if she had commented the day before
or one day later, but in that moment, it was
noteworthy that she hadn't said anything and that what was
attributed to her was no comment, which is what we
were reacting to. But thank you, Iris, and thanks to
(13:31):
all of y'all that keep us honest and make make
sure we're clarifying on this stuff. Okay, let's get into
the finals. Oh holy shit, let me start with that.
Let me just say, if you had told me just
a month or so ago that the finals were going
to be Aces Mercury, Wow, And I'm fired up for
this matchup. I am so excited about the superstars that
(13:54):
are going to be in this head to head and
I want to start there. I want to start with
what needs to go right for each team to win?
Just big picture meche. If the Mercury are going to
win the finals, what needs to go right?
Speaker 5 (14:07):
If the Mercury are going to win.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
We know At is going to do what she does.
Speaker 5 (14:11):
Everybody around At needs to hit shots.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Understand, they need to make their shot.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
I'm talking threes, I'm talking contested twos, I'm talking layups.
When she drops a dime, you need to finish on
that shot. That is going to be imperative to me
for the Mercury because if they don't At as dominant
as she can be in stretches, I don't think that
her shooting twos is going to be the thing that
you know she can do to push them ahead of
(14:38):
the Aces in any single game or in an entire
seven game series. So she's not gonna be able to
do it on her own. She's gonna do what she does.
Everybody else has to hit shots.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
Though.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Yeah, I want to build on that meiche, which is
to say that I think Satu Sobbily is going to
end up being a massive piece here because if the
Aces are able to either slow down a list or
just force her, like you said, into twos it's gonna
be Satu beyond the arc drain in threes and the
vibes she gives off a vibe of your not catching us.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
I'm going to keep making these, you know.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Alissa Thomas is like the muscle and Satu is the smirk. Yeah,
and when you put those two together, you're like, well.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
We're fucked.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
You know, Like if they get into a group, I
think there's a vibe there, And so I agree with you.
Of course it needs to be Alyssa Thomas doing what
she does. But I also think that the Mercury's defense
in this postseason has been really spectacular. They've led the
WNBA and opponents points per play, points per one hundred
per sessions, and three point percentage, But in their regular
(15:36):
season matchups with the Aces, they were not able to
contain the same way they have against these teams in
this postseason.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
So we'll see how that matchup works out for them.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
And speaking of that, I actually want to talk about
what I think needs to go right in order for
the Aces to win this and that is for the
offensive love to be spread out a little more than
what we've seen so far in this postseason. Heading into
this series, fifty three percent of Las vegas Is playoff
scoring has come from Wilson and Young, and we saw
in that final game they combined for sixty seven points.
They were the first pair in the history of the
(16:05):
WNBA to have thirty plus points each in the same
game in a playoff game. And it's great when they
go off like that, they're going to be tough to beat.
But they're going to need to see folks like Jeweloyd
step up, Chelsea Gray. We need the stars that have
been a part of the Ace's success in the past
to show up. And then we need, of course Jewel
Lloyd to be the Jewellloyd we know she can be
(16:26):
when she's hitting hard.
Speaker 5 (16:28):
Agree, I mean you lead me right into my X
factor for Vegas.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Who is Jeweloyd?
Speaker 5 (16:34):
To me, she's gotta be the Jewel that we saw
in Seattle. She's got to be playoff Jewel and we
haven't seen that just yet. She had one double digit
game in the last series, which to me is not enough.
When Asia you could struggle, as we did see her
struggle in the last series, she came back. It had
a bunch of thirty point games, and that's what it is.
But in order for them to get over the hump
(16:55):
against the Phoenix Mercury team that plays the defense that
you just mentioned, Jewel has to give them something. Give
us something, girl, give us double digits.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
At the very least.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
You're onto X factors, and I'm gonna get there in
a second because I have a different one for the Aces.
But I want to say one last thing about what
needs to go right for the Aces, and that is
defense and rebounding. This is a team that, when it
does that well, is so hard to face, particularly when
you've got Asia Wilson being a dominant force offensively on
the other side, If you can.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Hold the opponent to few enough points, you know you're.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Gonna get enough from at the very least Asia and Jackie,
if not everybody else. But their defense and rebounding throughout
this postseason has waxed and waned, and it has made
it very difficult for them to close out games at times,
which brings me to my X factor for the Aces.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
My EX factor is focus.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
This has been something that Becky Hammond has harped on
all year long, where she'll show up and be like,
I don't know who the fist team is, but they're
not the ones that showed up last game, and they
probably won't be the ones that show up next game.
And it's surprising for a team that brings back so
many players that have been here before. There's five players
who have been with Vegas since at least twenty twenty
(18:04):
two who have been a part of title winning runs,
and yet it seems like every night there's any number
of them who are like looking off into space, shiny object,
squirrel and focus. Focus for me is the X factor.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Do you think that staring off into space comes from
I don't want to say complacency, but when you've won
a title, when you've experienced success, getting back to that
point can be hard. And I'm curious if you think
some of that comes from, I don't know, having reached
the peak and then having to reach it again. You
know how hard it is.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
I think it's possible.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
But I think also the way last season went and
even early in this season, there's a lot of pride
in this team, and I would like to think that
they don't rest on the laurels of having won before.
I know, I think it's very hard to create the
kind of hunger that comes from never having won. I
think you can only really have that fire if you're
still seeking that first one. But I do think there's
(18:58):
some pride in being a team that's like, oh they're
past their peak. Oh they're not going to get back
to the mountaintop again. Oh that you know, the kind
of stuff we've heard about them.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Yeah, I agree with that.
Speaker 5 (19:09):
I agree with that, And I think, you know, turning
it back over to Phoenix, because I gave you my
X factor for Vegas, it's gonna be Jewel. I stand
on that. That's gonna be my answer the entirety of
this series. For Phoenix, it's got to be Natasha Mac
because she's going to be in there with at battling
against the MVP, the four time MVP, Asia Wilson and
(19:32):
Melissa Smith, who has been excellent for Vegas since being
traded mid season. And I think, you know, Mac is
a second year player, she's young. She played some good
minutes last season as well, but these are going to
be the most important minutes probably of her career.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Yeah, I think that's a good one.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
I think I don't know if it's fair to call
do Wanna Bonner an X factor because she can be
such a big piece and obviously was in previous iterations
of this Mercury team. But from what we saw in
that final Game four with the Links, she was an
X factor in the sense that she didn't do a lot,
and then when she did it made a huge difference,
and she came up in the clutch. Sodwana Bonner to me,
(20:10):
is certainly a part of it. And then I would say,
you know, there's there's something about Sammy Whitcomb, who also
you know, sometimes kind of disappears or isn't a huge factor.
But then she forced overtime in the game to win
at Minnesota with that huge shot, and she comes up
big and stretches when the other teams are focused on
(20:31):
the Superstars and they're like, shit, Sammy again. So that's
an interesting one to keep in mind. Okay, So that
brings us to the all important question of who is
going to win this series and how long will it
take that team? And for me, I'm riding with the Mercury. Oh,
(20:52):
i am riding with the Mercury. I have seen too
much inconsistency from the aces and if you look at
the pass for these two teams, Vegas is the first
team in the current WNBA playoff format, so this is
just since twenty twenty two, but they're the first ones
not to face the top four seed in getting to
(21:12):
the finals, and they struggled, they were pushed to the
brink and they very easily could not be here in
these finals.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Ball bounces one way, ball bounce is another.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Meanwhile, the Mercury went through the Liberty and the Links.
The Mercury went through both of last year's WNBA Finals teams,
And while the Liberty struggled a little bit and there
were injuries that Minnesota team and again without Cheryl Reeve
at the Helm, without Nafista Kalier. I understand that, but
I said in the previous show they were my favorite
(21:44):
for that game, even if the Links had been at
full strength. The way they were playing, to me made
them my favorite in that series. So I'm not picking
against the Mercury at this point. I'm not picking against
Alyssa Thomas barreling through you and then kicking it out
to the unicor horn and Satu sobbily and smirking their
way down the court as they're like, Hey, you didn't.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Expect this from us.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
And the only thing I can say about that is
that there is a real lack of experience in getting
over the finish line from this team. They are the
first team in WNBA history to get to the finals
twice in five years without a single player that carried
over from the previous roster. So this is a brand
new team showing up and needing to weather the adversity
(22:29):
in the storms and be able to finish and get
over the line. Which you know, some of these players
have been on other teams that haven't been able to
do that.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
But I'm going Mercury. I'm going Mercury.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
My gut is saying six, but my heart wants seven. Oh,
but you know what my heart does. Think if they're
gonna win, it's fun for them to win at home.
I'm gonna go with Mercury in six.
Speaker 5 (22:51):
Okay, Okay, Hi Sarah, I think maybe you stole my
notes I took prior to this big Citrus conversation because
for every reason that you just mentioned, I have the
Phoenix Mercury. Wow, they they showed us their their guts,
They showed us exactly what they were made of. In
(23:12):
the first couple of rounds Vegas, I didn't get a
taste of championship Vegas. Yet we know what that looks
and feels like from their previous championship wins, and I
do not think we have gotten it so far in
these playoffs, and I don't think that's the kind of
thing that everybody on that roster can just tap into
in a final situation.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
I think Asia and Jackie.
Speaker 5 (23:30):
Are gonna come with it because they've kind of got
that momentum you mentioned it, like, what was this that
fifty percent or so of their.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Offenses come from those two.
Speaker 5 (23:39):
But we still had question marks around Jewel, We still
had question marks around Chelsea Gray, who's.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
So fully healthy by the way.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Yeah, she came back into that game, but like ankles
especially can blow up with a little time.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (23:50):
Yeah, So there's just too many unknowns around that squad
for me right now, and the Mercury are on a tear.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
So I've got I want you to hear what you
just said, and I agree with you. But that's what's
so wild about it. There are too many unknowns on
the team that's bringing back five players that you've had
since at least twenty twenty two, and the Mercury are
just too strong despite the fact that this is the
first time that this team looking like this with all
these pieces.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Is at it. But it's true. I completely agree with you.
Speaker 5 (24:15):
Yeah, but you know what I think part of it is.
I think you cannot ignore the fact that Alyssa Thomas
and Doana Bonner, who may be an X factor, who
may wax and wan in this series, we don't know.
You cannot ignore the fact that there are two of
the veterans on this team and they've experienced so much
heartbreak at this juncture, it feels like at a certain point,
(24:36):
with somebody like at especially, you can't bring her to
the edge of the of the pinnacle and not expect
her to eventually get there. I selfishly really really want
this for her.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Yeah, we know. Back to two gay moms.
Speaker 5 (24:49):
We know, and you know I haven't mentioned this, but
shout out to my mamast she's my mom's favorite player too.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
Ooh, you always got to root for your mom's favorite player, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Got to I can't.
Speaker 5 (24:58):
I can't root against their Shout out to Penny.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
My mom's favorite player is anyone who played against me,
and unfortunately they have all retired. She rooted for me too,
but I did not go on to play in the pros.
So what I mean is she rooted for the professional
players who I used to play.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Against, because she was like I remember heard that school. Yeah,
she was always rooting for me. Okay, that would be weird.
That would be weird.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
Was like, damn, She's like, heter that's crazy.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
How many games? How many games? I want seven?
Speaker 5 (25:32):
I know you said in six, but I want I
was the one who wrote in our script today for
lucky we get game seven. I wrote that for a
reason because I really want us to get game seven.
So I'm gonna say mark in seven on Vegas home court,
and that's.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Gonna be that, all right, Alex.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
We did not end up jinxing the Aces with our
three ACES pick in that Game five semi final series,
But do we run the chance of jinxing the Mercury
or are you going appo?
Speaker 4 (26:00):
Well, first off, I wanted to celebrate the winners here,
which is people who invest in women's sports, because when
we look at these two teams, they represent two teams
that have been heavily invested in, with two coaches that
are the highest paid in the league. And I don't
think it's an accident that they then end up here.
Even if we you know, make Nate tippets the punchline. Occasionally,
(26:23):
the other winners are the people that get to watch
Kathy Engelbert's press conference ahead of Game one because she's
apparently still.
Speaker 5 (26:29):
Doing that.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
Little jealous are not going to be there, and you
can tell that I am stalling trying to figure this out.
And it makes me think how sometimes back in my
days of doing Olympic stuff, we would have to come
up with our metal predictions, and there were always the
predictions of what I wanted to happen versus the ones
that I actually thought would happen. And I think, in
my heart of hearts, I do want the Mercury to win.
(26:52):
Like the idea of seeing Alyssa Thomas lift the trophy
after seeing her come so close and doing so much
work in Connecticut, something I want to say.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
So we're going with wanna see instead of will see
to avoid you're putting your pride on the line with
the prediction.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
I'm gonna be a contrarian here because there's nothing to
lose in. All I can gain is pride in investing
the two of you. So I'm gonna go aces in
seven games because then we all win.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Or you win or we're losers. Win again.
Speaker 4 (27:23):
I don't bet, don't bet.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Very interesting approach.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Now, all right, well, we got game one tonight. We
are fired up for this. I'm not even gonna wait
for the good game play of the day. I'm gonna
tell it to you right now. Give us your predictions.
Shoot us an email good game at Wondermedia neetwork dot com,
or leave us a voicemail eight seven two two oh
four fifty seventy. What do you think is going to happen?
What are your X factors for this one? What has
to go right for these teams to win? And what's
(27:48):
your prediction? Put your pride on the line too. We
got to take another break when we come back a
very busy offseason for pucks and gay shit. Welcome back,
places time for little pucks and gay shit. Listen, we
know the PWHL is wonderful because of you know, high
(28:09):
level hockey and all that stuff, But it's also wonderful
because it's full of gays, and we know things full
of gays are usually pretty great.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Seriously, though, we do want.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
To give a quick shout out to a couple players
who got married in the off season. We saw the
p WHL just announced the season three schedule, so these
folks made sure that they got their vows done before
the action started up again. First, a gigantic huzzah to
Montreal victoir defender Amanda Boulie, who tied the knot with
her boo. Former Harvard standout turned to Harvard head coach
(28:37):
Laura Bellamy back in July. It was a gorgeous ceremony Manchester,
Vermont looked lovely. Both of the brides were donning white dresses.
They took cute little pictures with an old school chevy.
There's a big old photo dump of their big day
that Bouliet posted to Instagram, so we'll link to it
in our show notes. Also want to say a huge
congrats to Minnesota frost defender Sidney Morin, who married her
(28:58):
crush of all crushes and former Minutes Soda white Caps
teammate back from her Premier Hockey Federation days, Ronya Mogrin.
The two became one back in June in a celebration
in Santan Valley, Arizona. Will link to the cute picks
from their ceremony in the show notes as well. And
of course we are also happy for those who celebrated
heterosexual unions this offseason, including the Ottawa Charges, Beca Leslie
(29:20):
and Taylor Heisi, and Matti Rooney of the Minnesota Frost.
They all married dudes, but you know they can still
get a little love during pucks and gay shit, because y'all,
love is love. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review slices.
It's real easy. Watch the Portland Thorns Christine Sinclair look
alike contest, rating ten out of ten. Low Ponytails and
(29:40):
red Kits review. Tomorrow, Friend of the Show, Christine Sinclair
will become the first player inducted into the Thorns Hall
of Fame, with a ceremony set to take place ahead
of the team's match with BFC. We've run down Sinclair's long,
impressive list of stats many times here on the show,
and the honors and awards that she's received over the
course of her twenty five year career are way too
(30:01):
many to count. But Saturday we'll see what I believe
is a first, a Christine Sinclair lookalike contest before the
game with fifty bucks on the line for the big winner.
Cannot wait to see the photos of this one. Now
it's your turn y'all rate and review. Thanks for listening,
Have a great weekend, See you next week. Good Game,
(30:22):
Aces and Mercury, Good Game, PWHL Newlyweds Few any quote
unquote basketball fans who aren't excited about this finals matchup?
Speaker 2 (30:31):
You shitting't me?
Speaker 1 (30:36):
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.
(30:57):
Our editors are Emily Rutter, 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 listening
to Taylor Swift's new album Life of a Showgirl on
repeat for the next forty eight hours, taking just one
quick break to see Chapel Ronan concert, then right back
to Life.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Of a Showgirl. Please do not disturb.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
It's Friday, October third, Happy Friday, Slices and swifties. On
today's show, Big Citrus is getting back together once again.
We'll talk the latest on the fallout from NAFISA Collier's comments,
plus a preview of the WNBA Finals tip it off
tonight from the stars who need to show up and
show out, to the X factors that might make all
the difference, and we put our pride on the line
with some predictions.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Plus Jill Ellis gets hit with the lawsuit.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
The w's all rookie team is full of stars and
a whole bunch of pucks.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
E gaish.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
It's all coming up right after this Welcome back Slices.
Here's what you need to know today.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Hoops.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
The WNBA Finals tip off tonight at eight pm Eastern
on ESPN. It's the second seed Las Vegas Aces hosting
the fourth seed, Phoenix Mercury in Game one of the
best of seven championship series. Vegas will host Game two
as well, before the series shifts to the Mercury's PHX
Arena for games three and four. If necessary, Vegas hosts
Game five, Phoenix Game six, and if we're all real lucky,
(01:23):
we'll get a winner take all Game seven back in
Sin City. More on that series with Big Citrus. In
just a couple minutes, Hoops continued, we got an update
on the status of Minnesota Links Darnafisa Collier, who you
remember went down with the left ankle injury in Game
three of their WNBA semi final series with the Phoenix Mercury.
Per reporting from ESPN's Ramona Shelbourne, Collier sustained a Grade
(01:45):
two tear of three ligaments in her ankle and a
muscle in her shin after that incidental contact with Mercury
forward Alyssa Thomas. The injury has a minimum six week
recovery time, so Callier would not have been available if
the Links had advanced to the finals based on that timeline.
No Collier, who's also a co creator of the unrivaled
three on three league that set to play at second
season in January could be cleared to play by the
(02:07):
time it starts, assuming all goes well. Speaking of Callier,
her comments on Tuesday about WNBA leadership continue to reverberate
around the league, inspiring debates from talking heads, some of
them spot on, some of them involving folks need to
learn that her name is Nefisa, not Nefisia or Neficia,
and also eliciting responses from more of her fellow w players,
(02:28):
including the Indiana Fevers Caitlin Clark. In her exit interview
on Thursday. Here's a bit of what Clark had to say.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I have great respect for Fee and I think she
made a lot of very valid points, and you know,
I think what people need to understand, you know, we
need great leadership in this time across all levels.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
This is.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Straight up the most important moment in this league's history.
What this league's been around for twenty five plus years,
and this is a moment we have to capitalize on.
So that's honestly what I would say. I think there's
you know Fisa at all.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Clark continued, we are.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
In the biggest moment in WNBA history. There's no denying that.
Everybody knows that, and everybody that's in a place in
power has a true responsibility, and even myself, we have
a responsibility to make sure that this game and is
in a great place going forward with the CBA and
you know, caring for our players and you know, building
(03:23):
this league to make sure it's in a great spot
for many years to come, because you all know I
grew up as a huge fan of this league and
I'm going to do everything I can to make this
the league that you know, a five year old, a
ten year old, a fifteen year old, a girl in
college is really proud of to come into and to
be able to put a WNBA uniform on, and you know,
(03:44):
that's what they dream of and then hopefully they can
accomplish that goal because that's exactly who I was, and
that's you know, really at the end of the day,
like I hope that's what my legacy can be, is
just how I impacted the impacted people to be able
to to maybe want to be in the WNBA, but
to really just achieve what I've they want to achieve.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
We'll talk a little bit more about Clark's comments with
Big Citrus later in the show. More w the WNBA
announced its All Rookie team earlier this week, and it's
the first time since twenty fourteen that the top four
draft picks in a w class made the cut. Dallas
Wings guard and Rookie of the Year Pagebeckers, Dominique Malonga
of the Seattle Storm, Sonya Citron, and Kiki erie Fen
of the Washington Mystics, and international signing Janee Salon of
(04:23):
the Golden State Valkyries rounded out the squad class of
twenty twenty five baled out.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
In Footy News.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
The antipenultimate, third to last week of the NWSL season
begins tonight. The Kansas City Current has already clinched the
shield and the number one seed in the playoffs, and
the Washington Spirit have also clinched a postseason birth, but
the rest of the slots are wide open. In fact,
the race is so tight that no other teams can
clinch a playoff berth this weekend, but two teams can
(04:51):
be eliminated. Both the Utah Royals and BAFC will be
fighting to keep their postseason hopes alive and worth noting
when the Orlando Pride visit the Houston Dash at eight
pm Eastern tonight on Prime Video Orlando could leapfrog the
Seattle Rain and slide into fourth place. That's the only
game on the schedule this evening. We'll link to the
full weekend schedule in our show notes. Also, the Golden
(05:12):
Boot Race is still alive and well Casey's ten Wi
Shwingo holds the top spot with fourteen goals, followed by
Gotham FSI's Estaire Gonzales at thirteen. Both players will be
in action with their squads over the weekend. More soccer news.
FIFA CHI Football officer, former US women's national team head coach,
and former San Diego WAVEFC president Jill Ellis is being
(05:32):
sued by Wave owners Lauren Lightman and Arthur Levine through
an entity that purchased the Wave last October. Per lawsuit
filed Monday in San Diego Superior Court. Lightman and Levine
alleged that Ellis lied, claiming she'd stay through purchase negotiations
last year, but then resigned two days after the sale
was complete for what was then an NWSL record price. Ellis, Lightman,
(05:53):
and Levine became acquainted prior to their Wave involvement, and
the suit claims that Ellis told the billionaire couple she
would quote god the team for many years to come
end quote. Now, the lawsuit didn't clarify whether Ellis put
that statement in writing or in a contract, but it
does say that she never intended to stay and was
in negotiations with FIFA around her current role with the
governing body while simultaneously making assurances to Lightman and Levine.
(06:16):
The suit officially accuses Ellis and other unnamed defendants of
engaging in intentional and negligent misrepresentation, concealment, and false promise,
allegedly leading to the loss of forty million dollars in
the Wave's total value. An attorney representing Ellis claims the
suit was filed in retaliation because she asked the owners
to pay over one point two million dollars in deferred
(06:38):
compensation she alleges is owed as part of her previous
contract with the Wave. This is the third legal matter
spawning from Ellis's time with the Wave. She filed the
defamation lawsuit against a former team videographer who alleged an
abusive environment at the club, and that former employee and
four others sued both the Wave and the NWSL, alleging
that those entities failed to act on the workplace culture complaints.
(06:59):
We'll keep you update on this as we hear more,
and we'll link to the San Diego Union Tribune's original
reporting in our show notes.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
More soccer up in the Northern Super League.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
With a few weeks left in the regular season, the
league's top four teams are in a pack well ahead
of the bottom two, so the postseason picture is complete
with each of those four teams already clinching a playoff berth.
The postseason will work as follows, so those four squads AFC, Toronto,
Ottawa Rapid FC, Montreal Roses FC, and Vancouver Rise FC
will play two leg semifinals early next month. That means
(07:31):
each matchup will have one home and one away game,
and the two teams who score the most total goals
combined in those contests will advance to the final. The
NFL Final will be played November fifteenth at Bimo Field
in Toronto. We'll link where you can grab tickets in
our show notes.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
We got to take a quick break.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
When we come back, Big Citrus gets you ready for
the WNBA finals. Be right back, Welcome back, slices, Happy Friday.
We're going to get into a big finals preview, but
first we wanted to address an email from a Slice
(08:10):
named Iris and the comments that Kaitlin Clark made in
her exit interview on Thursday. You might recall that we
mentioned that Caitlin Clark did not comment, but Lexi, who
was actually prepping for the game, had time to check
out Feas' comments and make a statement. Slice Iris writes
in and says Lexi was doing pregame media and answered
questions about Fees' comments. Asia, when asked pregame, claims she
(08:32):
hadn't heard them, but did comment postgame. Did she read
or listen on the way off the court after the game?
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Question Mark?
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Caitlyn wasn't playing and hasn't had media availability since All Star.
If she had issued a written statement, it would have
overshadowed everyone else's response and fees original comments, and I
doubt a mere retweet or like would have satisfied Big Citrus.
I don't know when you recorded, but since you included
Kelsey's statement about her medical situation, by the time that
was posted on Wednesday, it was known that Caitlin would
be sitting for an exit interview on Thursday. Was it
(08:58):
not reasonable to think you would adress the comments then,
which she in fact did and fully supported Fee. She
also said she hadn't heard the Kathy story about her
that Fee recalled, so it wasn't like she could have
a statement prepared in response. Some people had speculated that,
since they share the same agent, Fee would have given
Kaitlin a heads up, but that apparently didn't happen. And
I'm not knocking Fee at all. I like her and
support what she said. I don't know if Kaitlyn's comments
(09:19):
today will be enough for Big Citrus, and if they
are not, that's fine, but the rush to judgment here
was unfair and unnecessary and unfortunately somewhat predictable. You could
have said that Caitlyn hasn't spoken yet and that you
hope she would in the future, which she did within
forty eight hours, but instead you went right for the
most negative conclusion. I would expect better and producer Alex
Caitlyn did attend the CBA meeting at All Star in Indy.
What you said was factually incorrect, and even if you
(09:41):
don't address anything else said on the podcast, this should
be corrected. Thank you for coverage of women's sports IRIS. Okay,
let's start with that last thing. Quick, Alex, because I
think your intended statement was not to imply that she
didn't attend, but that the injury might have impacted her attendants.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Yeah, more that the injury overshadowed that. So Caitlyn announced
that she was planning to attend the CBA meeting had
of a Tuesday night game that I was at against
the Connecticut Sun in Boston. That was big news that
she was going to attend the CBA meetings. Then she
got injured in that same game. Then the news became
that she wasn't going to be playing. And so I
(10:17):
didn't mean to imply that she didn't attend the CBA meetings.
I just meant that she had made news prior to
the injury that she was planning on being engaged in them.
So apologies for any confusion there.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Yeah, And I think as far as the point being
made about us rushing to criticize, I think there's some
fairness to that. I think that not every single player responded,
but because she was the one who was called out
directly and hadn't posted anything even the ten out of
ten that Angel said or the stand with Fee, essentially
(10:48):
that Paige Becker's posted that the absence of anything stood
out to us, not that we thought necessarily she needed
a written or spoken statement. And I think it's a
good point from Iris that she hasn't done me availability
well in street clothes, so perhaps it would have been
too much to expect that they would summon her to
speak on Feas's comments before this decisive Game five and
(11:09):
take focus away from the game being played.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
I do want to clarify one thing, though, because it
wasn't just that she didn't say anything. Multiple news outlets,
including The Indianapolis Star, reached out to The Fever and said,
does Caitlyn have any comment on this? And the reply
was no comment And to reply with a no comment
instead of a response, then I think is notable, even
(11:32):
though she did the media availability two days later with
her exit interview.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Yeah, I think sometimes no comment says something.
Speaker 5 (11:40):
Exactly Yes, I agree, and I feel like, you know,
in regards to my reaction to all of it, that's
exactly what it was hinging on. I'm like, if you
went to Caitlyn and she intentionally said I have no comment,
then I take a big freaking issue with that because
of everything that we said in the episode, Because you know,
PI uh, kind of went to bat for her and
her com and all that good stuff. But to your point, Iris,
(12:02):
I am satisfied with these comments. I'm very satisfied with
these comments. I'm very happy that, you know, it seems
like she took the time to really look at what
Fee said and come up with something thoughtful and response
and in support. And I think at the end of
the day, that's what we were all asking for, right,
That's what we were all looking for, and she gave
that to us. But I also don't think I don't
(12:23):
think it was so much a rush to judgment as
like you said, Sarah, She's commented on so many little
things since she's been out, just off the cuff. You
mentioned the Angelies ten out of ten, like we've seen
Caitlin make little you know, Snyder marks on on social media,
which I tend to actually really love, And that's all
it really would have taken to satisfy that. But I
am happy that she said something. I'm happy that you
(12:44):
spoke up, Iris, and I'm happy that we've gotten the
opportunity to clear the air.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah, I do want to clarify, and I think as
much as it might not be fair when you draw
the amount of attention when you have the amount of pull,
when your influence is as big as it is, and
when the claim around and about you, which is no
fault of her own, are about the amount of weight
she has in this league that brings with it an expectation.
(13:08):
And so again, I'm so grateful she said something. We
played you to those statements. I thought she did a
great job speaking to it. And in the end, it
doesn't really matter if she had commented the day before
or one day later, but in that moment, it was
noteworthy that she hadn't said anything and that what was
attributed to her was no comment, which is what we
were reacting to. But thank you, Iris, and thanks to
(13:31):
all of y'all that keep us honest and make make
sure we're clarifying on this stuff. Okay, let's get into
the finals. Oh holy shit, let me start with that.
Let me just say, if you had told me just
a month or so ago that the finals were going
to be Aces Mercury, Wow, And I'm fired up for
this matchup. I am so excited about the superstars that
(13:54):
are going to be in this head to head and
I want to start there. I want to start with
what needs to go right for each team to win?
Just big picture meche. If the Mercury are going to
win the finals, what needs to go right?
Speaker 5 (14:07):
If the Mercury are going to win.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
We know At is going to do what she does.
Speaker 5 (14:11):
Everybody around At needs to hit shots.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Understand, they need to make their shot.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
I'm talking threes, I'm talking contested twos, I'm talking layups.
When she drops a dime, you need to finish on
that shot. That is going to be imperative to me
for the Mercury because if they don't At as dominant
as she can be in stretches, I don't think that
her shooting twos is going to be the thing that
you know she can do to push them ahead of
(14:38):
the Aces in any single game or in an entire
seven game series. So she's not gonna be able to
do it on her own. She's gonna do what she does.
Everybody else has to hit shots.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
Though.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Yeah, I want to build on that meiche, which is
to say that I think Satu Sobbily is going to
end up being a massive piece here because if the
Aces are able to either slow down a list or
just force her, like you said, into twos it's gonna
be Satu beyond the arc drain in threes and the
vibes she gives off a vibe of your not catching us.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
I'm going to keep making these, you know.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Alissa Thomas is like the muscle and Satu is the smirk. Yeah,
and when you put those two together, you're like, well.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
We're fucked.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
You know, Like if they get into a group, I
think there's a vibe there, And so I agree with you.
Of course it needs to be Alyssa Thomas doing what
she does. But I also think that the Mercury's defense
in this postseason has been really spectacular. They've led the
WNBA and opponents points per play, points per one hundred
per sessions, and three point percentage, But in their regular
(15:36):
season matchups with the Aces, they were not able to
contain the same way they have against these teams in
this postseason.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
So we'll see how that matchup works out for them.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
And speaking of that, I actually want to talk about
what I think needs to go right in order for
the Aces to win this and that is for the
offensive love to be spread out a little more than
what we've seen so far in this postseason. Heading into
this series, fifty three percent of Las vegas Is playoff
scoring has come from Wilson and Young, and we saw
in that final game they combined for sixty seven points.
They were the first pair in the history of the
(16:05):
WNBA to have thirty plus points each in the same
game in a playoff game. And it's great when they
go off like that, they're going to be tough to beat.
But they're going to need to see folks like Jeweloyd
step up, Chelsea Gray. We need the stars that have
been a part of the Ace's success in the past
to show up. And then we need, of course Jewel
Lloyd to be the Jewellloyd we know she can be
(16:26):
when she's hitting hard.
Speaker 5 (16:28):
Agree, I mean you lead me right into my X
factor for Vegas.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Who is Jeweloyd?
Speaker 5 (16:34):
To me, she's gotta be the Jewel that we saw
in Seattle. She's got to be playoff Jewel and we
haven't seen that just yet. She had one double digit
game in the last series, which to me is not enough.
When Asia you could struggle, as we did see her
struggle in the last series, she came back. It had
a bunch of thirty point games, and that's what it is.
But in order for them to get over the hump
(16:55):
against the Phoenix Mercury team that plays the defense that
you just mentioned, Jewel has to give them something. Give
us something, girl, give us double digits.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
At the very least.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
You're onto X factors, and I'm gonna get there in
a second because I have a different one for the Aces.
But I want to say one last thing about what
needs to go right for the Aces, and that is
defense and rebounding. This is a team that, when it
does that well, is so hard to face, particularly when
you've got Asia Wilson being a dominant force offensively on
the other side, If you can.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Hold the opponent to few enough points, you know you're.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Gonna get enough from at the very least Asia and Jackie,
if not everybody else. But their defense and rebounding throughout
this postseason has waxed and waned, and it has made
it very difficult for them to close out games at times,
which brings me to my X factor for the Aces.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
My EX factor is focus.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
This has been something that Becky Hammond has harped on
all year long, where she'll show up and be like,
I don't know who the fist team is, but they're
not the ones that showed up last game, and they
probably won't be the ones that show up next game.
And it's surprising for a team that brings back so
many players that have been here before. There's five players
who have been with Vegas since at least twenty twenty
(18:04):
two who have been a part of title winning runs,
and yet it seems like every night there's any number
of them who are like looking off into space, shiny object,
squirrel and focus. Focus for me is the X factor.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Do you think that staring off into space comes from
I don't want to say complacency, but when you've won
a title, when you've experienced success, getting back to that
point can be hard. And I'm curious if you think
some of that comes from, I don't know, having reached
the peak and then having to reach it again. You
know how hard it is.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
I think it's possible.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
But I think also the way last season went and
even early in this season, there's a lot of pride
in this team, and I would like to think that
they don't rest on the laurels of having won before.
I know, I think it's very hard to create the
kind of hunger that comes from never having won. I
think you can only really have that fire if you're
still seeking that first one. But I do think there's
(18:58):
some pride in being a team that's like, oh they're
past their peak. Oh they're not going to get back
to the mountaintop again. Oh that you know, the kind
of stuff we've heard about them.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Yeah, I agree with that.
Speaker 5 (19:09):
I agree with that, And I think, you know, turning
it back over to Phoenix, because I gave you my
X factor for Vegas, it's gonna be Jewel. I stand
on that. That's gonna be my answer the entirety of
this series. For Phoenix, it's got to be Natasha Mac
because she's going to be in there with at battling
against the MVP, the four time MVP, Asia Wilson and
(19:32):
Melissa Smith, who has been excellent for Vegas since being
traded mid season. And I think, you know, Mac is
a second year player, she's young. She played some good
minutes last season as well, but these are going to
be the most important minutes probably of her career.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Yeah, I think that's a good one.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
I think I don't know if it's fair to call
do Wanna Bonner an X factor because she can be
such a big piece and obviously was in previous iterations
of this Mercury team. But from what we saw in
that final Game four with the Links, she was an
X factor in the sense that she didn't do a lot,
and then when she did it made a huge difference,
and she came up in the clutch. Sodwana Bonner to me,
(20:10):
is certainly a part of it. And then I would say,
you know, there's there's something about Sammy Whitcomb, who also
you know, sometimes kind of disappears or isn't a huge factor.
But then she forced overtime in the game to win
at Minnesota with that huge shot, and she comes up
big and stretches when the other teams are focused on
(20:31):
the Superstars and they're like, shit, Sammy again. So that's
an interesting one to keep in mind. Okay, So that
brings us to the all important question of who is
going to win this series and how long will it
take that team? And for me, I'm riding with the Mercury. Oh,
(20:52):
i am riding with the Mercury. I have seen too
much inconsistency from the aces and if you look at
the pass for these two teams, Vegas is the first
team in the current WNBA playoff format, so this is
just since twenty twenty two, but they're the first ones
not to face the top four seed in getting to
(21:12):
the finals, and they struggled, they were pushed to the
brink and they very easily could not be here in
these finals.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Ball bounces one way, ball bounce is another.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Meanwhile, the Mercury went through the Liberty and the Links.
The Mercury went through both of last year's WNBA Finals teams,
And while the Liberty struggled a little bit and there
were injuries that Minnesota team and again without Cheryl Reeve
at the Helm, without Nafista Kalier. I understand that, but
I said in the previous show they were my favorite
(21:44):
for that game, even if the Links had been at
full strength. The way they were playing, to me made
them my favorite in that series. So I'm not picking
against the Mercury at this point. I'm not picking against
Alyssa Thomas barreling through you and then kicking it out
to the unicor horn and Satu sobbily and smirking their
way down the court as they're like, Hey, you didn't.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Expect this from us.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
And the only thing I can say about that is
that there is a real lack of experience in getting
over the finish line from this team. They are the
first team in WNBA history to get to the finals
twice in five years without a single player that carried
over from the previous roster. So this is a brand
new team showing up and needing to weather the adversity
(22:29):
in the storms and be able to finish and get
over the line. Which you know, some of these players
have been on other teams that haven't been able to
do that.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
But I'm going Mercury. I'm going Mercury.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
My gut is saying six, but my heart wants seven. Oh,
but you know what my heart does. Think if they're
gonna win, it's fun for them to win at home.
I'm gonna go with Mercury in six.
Speaker 5 (22:51):
Okay, Okay, Hi Sarah, I think maybe you stole my
notes I took prior to this big Citrus conversation because
for every reason that you just mentioned, I have the
Phoenix Mercury. Wow, they they showed us their their guts,
They showed us exactly what they were made of. In
(23:12):
the first couple of rounds Vegas, I didn't get a
taste of championship Vegas. Yet we know what that looks
and feels like from their previous championship wins, and I
do not think we have gotten it so far in
these playoffs, and I don't think that's the kind of
thing that everybody on that roster can just tap into
in a final situation.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
I think Asia and Jackie.
Speaker 5 (23:30):
Are gonna come with it because they've kind of got
that momentum you mentioned it, like, what was this that
fifty percent or so of their.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Offenses come from those two.
Speaker 5 (23:39):
But we still had question marks around Jewel, We still
had question marks around Chelsea Gray, who's.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
So fully healthy by the way.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Yeah, she came back into that game, but like ankles
especially can blow up with a little time.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (23:50):
Yeah, So there's just too many unknowns around that squad
for me right now, and the Mercury are on a tear.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
So I've got I want you to hear what you
just said, and I agree with you. But that's what's
so wild about it. There are too many unknowns on
the team that's bringing back five players that you've had
since at least twenty twenty two, and the Mercury are
just too strong despite the fact that this is the
first time that this team looking like this with all
these pieces.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Is at it. But it's true. I completely agree with you.
Speaker 5 (24:15):
Yeah, but you know what I think part of it is.
I think you cannot ignore the fact that Alyssa Thomas
and Doana Bonner, who may be an X factor, who
may wax and wan in this series, we don't know.
You cannot ignore the fact that there are two of
the veterans on this team and they've experienced so much
heartbreak at this juncture, it feels like at a certain point,
(24:36):
with somebody like at especially, you can't bring her to
the edge of the of the pinnacle and not expect
her to eventually get there. I selfishly really really want
this for her.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Yeah, we know. Back to two gay moms.
Speaker 5 (24:49):
We know, and you know I haven't mentioned this, but
shout out to my mamast she's my mom's favorite player too.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
Ooh, you always got to root for your mom's favorite player, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Got to I can't.
Speaker 5 (24:58):
I can't root against their Shout out to Penny.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
My mom's favorite player is anyone who played against me,
and unfortunately they have all retired. She rooted for me too,
but I did not go on to play in the pros.
So what I mean is she rooted for the professional
players who I used to play.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Against, because she was like I remember heard that school. Yeah,
she was always rooting for me. Okay, that would be weird.
That would be weird.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
Was like, damn, She's like, heter that's crazy.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
How many games? How many games? I want seven?
Speaker 5 (25:32):
I know you said in six, but I want I
was the one who wrote in our script today for
lucky we get game seven. I wrote that for a
reason because I really want us to get game seven.
So I'm gonna say mark in seven on Vegas home court,
and that's.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Gonna be that, all right, Alex.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
We did not end up jinxing the Aces with our
three ACES pick in that Game five semi final series,
But do we run the chance of jinxing the Mercury
or are you going appo?
Speaker 4 (26:00):
Well, first off, I wanted to celebrate the winners here,
which is people who invest in women's sports, because when
we look at these two teams, they represent two teams
that have been heavily invested in, with two coaches that
are the highest paid in the league. And I don't
think it's an accident that they then end up here.
Even if we you know, make Nate tippets the punchline. Occasionally,
(26:23):
the other winners are the people that get to watch
Kathy Engelbert's press conference ahead of Game one because she's
apparently still.
Speaker 5 (26:29):
Doing that.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
Little jealous are not going to be there, and you
can tell that I am stalling trying to figure this out.
And it makes me think how sometimes back in my
days of doing Olympic stuff, we would have to come
up with our metal predictions, and there were always the
predictions of what I wanted to happen versus the ones
that I actually thought would happen. And I think, in
my heart of hearts, I do want the Mercury to win.
(26:52):
Like the idea of seeing Alyssa Thomas lift the trophy
after seeing her come so close and doing so much
work in Connecticut, something I want to say.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
So we're going with wanna see instead of will see
to avoid you're putting your pride on the line with
the prediction.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
I'm gonna be a contrarian here because there's nothing to
lose in. All I can gain is pride in investing
the two of you. So I'm gonna go aces in
seven games because then we all win.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Or you win or we're losers. Win again.
Speaker 4 (27:23):
I don't bet, don't bet.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Very interesting approach.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Now, all right, well, we got game one tonight. We
are fired up for this. I'm not even gonna wait
for the good game play of the day. I'm gonna
tell it to you right now. Give us your predictions.
Shoot us an email good game at Wondermedia neetwork dot com,
or leave us a voicemail eight seven two two oh
four fifty seventy. What do you think is going to happen?
What are your X factors for this one? What has
to go right for these teams to win? And what's
(27:48):
your prediction? Put your pride on the line too. We
got to take another break when we come back a
very busy offseason for pucks and gay shit. Welcome back,
places time for little pucks and gay shit. Listen, we
know the PWHL is wonderful because of you know, high
(28:09):
level hockey and all that stuff, But it's also wonderful
because it's full of gays, and we know things full
of gays are usually pretty great.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Seriously, though, we do want.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
To give a quick shout out to a couple players
who got married in the off season. We saw the
p WHL just announced the season three schedule, so these
folks made sure that they got their vows done before
the action started up again. First, a gigantic huzzah to
Montreal victoir defender Amanda Boulie, who tied the knot with
her boo. Former Harvard standout turned to Harvard head coach
(28:37):
Laura Bellamy back in July. It was a gorgeous ceremony Manchester,
Vermont looked lovely. Both of the brides were donning white dresses.
They took cute little pictures with an old school chevy.
There's a big old photo dump of their big day
that Bouliet posted to Instagram, so we'll link to it
in our show notes. Also want to say a huge
congrats to Minnesota frost defender Sidney Morin, who married her
(28:58):
crush of all crushes and former Minutes Soda white Caps
teammate back from her Premier Hockey Federation days, Ronya Mogrin.
The two became one back in June in a celebration
in Santan Valley, Arizona. Will link to the cute picks
from their ceremony in the show notes as well. And
of course we are also happy for those who celebrated
heterosexual unions this offseason, including the Ottawa Charges, Beca Leslie
(29:20):
and Taylor Heisi, and Matti Rooney of the Minnesota Frost.
They all married dudes, but you know they can still
get a little love during pucks and gay shit, because y'all,
love is love. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review slices.
It's real easy. Watch the Portland Thorns Christine Sinclair look
alike contest, rating ten out of ten. Low Ponytails and
(29:40):
red Kits review. Tomorrow, Friend of the Show, Christine Sinclair
will become the first player inducted into the Thorns Hall
of Fame, with a ceremony set to take place ahead
of the team's match with BFC. We've run down Sinclair's long,
impressive list of stats many times here on the show,
and the honors and awards that she's received over the
course of her twenty five year career are way too
(30:01):
many to count. But Saturday we'll see what I believe
is a first, a Christine Sinclair lookalike contest before the
game with fifty bucks on the line for the big winner.
Cannot wait to see the photos of this one. Now
it's your turn y'all rate and review. Thanks for listening,
Have a great weekend, See you next week. Good Game,
(30:22):
Aces and Mercury, Good Game, PWHL Newlyweds Few any quote
unquote basketball fans who aren't excited about this finals matchup?
Speaker 2 (30:31):
You shitting't me?
Speaker 1 (30:36):
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.
(30:57):
Our editors are Emily Rutter, 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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