November 7, 2025 • 45 mins
Former Iowa basketball coach turned NBC Sports analyst Lisa Bluder joins Sarah to discuss her new role behind the broadcast desk, watching her former players hoop in the pros, her 20+ year career leading Iowa women’s basketball, and what it’s like being at the center of the Caitlin Clark commotion. Plus, pulling out the dictionary to get to know our new teams and the age-old question: WWMD?
SHOW NOTES:
-
Watch an example of goldeneye courtship here
-
All eight Unrivaled rosters can be seen here
- Full schedule for college hoops can be found here
-
Read USA Today’s story from 2020 about LSU’s mishandling of sexual misconduct complaints here
-
Read Nancy Armour’s column about LSU’s selection of Verge Ausberry here
-
Check out the WTA Finals schedule here
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Check out a fascinating animated illustration of the WNBA’s CBA negotiations from _sportsball here
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Leave us a voicemail at 872-204-5070 or send us a note at goodgame@wondermedianetwork.com
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Follow Sarah on social! Bluesky: @sarahspain.com Instagram: @Spain2323
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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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 googling
what's the job of an advisory board and is it
supposed to only include celebrities and influencers?
Speaker 2 (00:08):
And also what is a torrent? And is it that
thing that causes a computer virus?
Speaker 1 (00:12):
It's Friday, November seventh, and on today's show will be
answering those questions and talking to former Iowa hoops coach
at new NBC sports analyst Lisa Bluter about her new
role behind the broadcast desk, watching her former players hoop
in the pros, her twenty plus year career leading Iowa
women's basketball, and what it's like being.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
At the center of the Caitlin Clark commotion.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Plus pulling out the dictionary to get to know our
new teams hooping in the off season, and the age
old question WWMD. It's all coming up right after this
Welcome back slices, Happy Friday. Here's what you need to
know today. Let's start with the NWSL and this weekend's
(00:55):
four quarter final matchups. The playoffs get underway tonight with
the number four Orlando Pro hosting the number five Seattle
Rain at seven pm Eastern. Now, the Rain have been
in Orlando all week they stuck around after these two
teams played to a draw last weekend. For me, this
game is going to be about strategy and seniority. First,
what kind of changes might these coaches make to mix
things up and show some new looks after having just
(01:17):
matched up last weekend?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Second?
Speaker 1 (01:19):
How will the og vets on these teams impact things?
Will the rain have a little extra energy trying to
send retiring teammate Lauren Barnes out in style? On the
other side, WWMD, what will Marta do? She lives for
big games postseason, Marta is always a thrill.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
What will she do this year?
Speaker 1 (01:38):
On Saturday, the number two Washington Spirit host Number seven
Racing Louisville at twelve pm Eastern And this one comes
down to availability, composure.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And crowd.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Who's available and one hundred percent healthy? For the Spirit
they send a limited roster on the road last weekend?
Was that mostly just about rest or how many players
are coming and hobbled. Can a notoriously physical and oft
Penali Racing team show the composure that they found late
in the season and harness all their excitement for good
or will their first playoff outing be marred? By impetuous
(02:08):
or reckless play. Finally, how much will the rowdy Audi
crowd factor in tough place to play always in the postseason?
Woof The quarterfinal round wraps up Sunday with two matches. First,
number one Kansas City Current hosting number eight Gotham FC
at twelve thirty pm Eastern. Now, fun fact from the
folks over at the Full Time podcast, Gotham have never
(02:30):
beat the Current, not once in their ten NWSL meetings,
and the Current have been a buzzsaw all season long,
So really this is only an interesting game to me.
If good Gotham shows up, they got to look better
than last week, and just like the Spirit, there are
questions about who's healthy and available who sat last week
for rest versus injury that might be lingering into this matchup.
(02:51):
We've seen got Theam win it all from the bottom
of the bracket before, but it's Kansas City at home
where they haven't lost a game since July sixth, the
twenty twenty five war Sheesh. The second Sunday matchup is
the number three Portland Thorns hosting the number six San
Diego Wave at three pm Eastern. The Thorns surprised US
a bit by ending up as the number three seed,
while the Wave had a much better first half of
(03:13):
the season than second half, so their success feels like
it's going to depend on which team shows up on Sunday.
Possession points and Providence Park will decide this one. Wave
had possession more than any other team this season, and
they'll look to control the flow of the game. But
can they turn that control into actual points and finish
on the attack and an oft out of sink Portland
(03:33):
team might get the boost they need from a rowdy
home crowd to inspire individual excellence from the likes of
Olivia Moultrie or Sam Coffee, which may be all they need. Remember,
we had the athletics to Mark Griffin on the show
to chat all Things quarter Finals on Wednesday, so if
you missed it, go back and listen to that show
ahead of this weekend's games.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
More NWSL, The.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
League has announced the formation of a new advisory board,
calling the group a quote first of its kind initiative,
with a collective of investors, cultural leaders, and soccer legends
united by a shared commitment to accelerate the league's growth,
deep in its cultural impact and shape the future of
the women's game end quote. All twenty members include current
investors in the league, and most teams are represented by
(04:13):
one or two delegates, though some teams the Chicago Stars,
Houston Dash and Racing Louisville aren't represented at all. Inaugural
members include Alex Morgan, Lindsay Vaughan, Sabrina Yanescu, Sue Byrd,
Elizabeth Banks, Chris Paul, and Eli Manning. Per the League,
the committee will meet twice a year to collaborate together
on ideas and areas for growth. While the NWSL tapping
(04:35):
into its Star Studed investment group feels like a smart idea,
We're curious to see how the expertise and advice of
this particular group will be implemented to the PWHL. The
league announced the branding and names of its two expansion
teams on Thursday, officially unveiling them as the Seattle Torrent
and the Vancouver Goldeneyes Alex Google Torrent, which Merriam Webster
(04:55):
defines as a violent or forceful flow of fluid or
a rushing stream of water, or alternatively, a protocol that
is used to distribute a large computer file that has
been segmented in small pieces between a large number of
peer to peer users. Seattle, though sort of near Silicon Valley,
was going for the watery sense of the word, not
the computer kind. According to their press release, quote Torrent
(05:17):
draws inspiration from the powerful waterways that shape and connect
Washington's unique landscape, symbolizing the team's determination to carve its
own path. The logo features an S that serves as
both a letter form for Seattle and a rush of water,
its flowing curves mirroring river channels.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
The golden Eye's name is a nod to a type
of bird that is native to Vancouver, not the nineteen
ninety five.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
James Bond film.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
To be honest, not super familiar with golden eyes, so
I looked them up per Wikipedia. Common golden eyes are
aggressive and territorial ducks and have elaborate courtship displays. Y'all,
I googled golden eye courtship and these birds are breaking
their necks to get busy all. Put a link to
the video in the show notes. The big reveal about
these two teams comes just ahead of the start of
(06:02):
p WHL training camps, as teams welcome back players to
the ice next week ahead of the first game of
the season between the newly dubbed Goldeneyes and Torrent on
November twenty first to unrivaled rosters for season two of
the three v three League were unveiled on Wednesday night,
using a multi step process that gave og unrivaled teams
the chance to protect players while also giving coaches of
(06:23):
all eight teams the ability to draft players. To get
the process started, the forty eight person player pool was
divided into six groups based on position, and every club
was required to ensure that its roster included one player
from each group.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Teams that made the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
In twenty twenty five, that's the Lunar Owls, Rose, Vinyl,
and Laces were allowed to retain two players from their
season one roster, while non playoff teams Myst and Phantom
were limited to one returning player.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Those players were then exempt from the draft.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Teams then took turns, beginning with expansion sides Breeze and Hive,
selecting from the remaining players. This part of the process
was held internally. Totally clear how it all went down,
but the Breeze ended up with a super young roster
that includes Paige Beeckers, Dominique Malanga, Rakia Jackson, Erry MacDonald,
Kate Martin and Cam Brink, while the Lunar Owls return
(07:12):
to Fisa Collier and Skyler Diggins and then add Marina Maybray,
Aliah Edwards, Rachel Bannam and Rebecca Allen. We'll link to
all eight rosters in the show notes. More hoops necka
Oguo Mackay has announced that she's signed a contract with
Project B, making her the first player publicly known to
have signed with the Global league, which will launch in
twenty twenty six during the WNBA off season. Project B
(07:35):
is similar to Unrivaled boasts higher salaries than those in
the W and is also offering players equity. The league,
which is headquartered in Singapore, has a handful of high
profile athlete investors, including Candas Parker, and has also partnered
with the entertainment company SELA, which is owned by Saudi
Arabia's sovereign Wealth Fund. More hoops and soccer basketball star
(07:56):
Juju Watkins maybe sidelined for the season, but she's still
making moves. On Thursday, the usc Guard announced she's joined
the investor group of NWSL expansion team Boston Legacy FC.
With a press release describing Watkins's quote the first college
athlete to directly invest in a professional women's sports team
end quote, which honestly kind of confused us for a
sec because.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Didn't Juju also invest in Unrivaled last year?
Speaker 1 (08:18):
But then we got clarification from the legacy that this
is Juju's first investment specifically in a team, while her
Unrivaled investment was for the league as a whole. More hoops,
don't forget the college of basketball season is under way,
so we'll post a link to the full schedule of
this weekend's games, which includes two top twenty five matchups.
Number four Texas hosting number twenty four Richmond tonight, while
(08:40):
number eighteen USC will take on number nine NC State
on Sunday. One More college hoops note, in case you
haven't heard, LSU is in a bit of a pickle.
Over the course of the last eight days, the school
fired its football coach, nudged out its athletic director, and
named a new president, new chancellor, and replacement athletic director,
all decisions made with what feels like an immense amount
(09:01):
of influence from Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry. The connection to
women's hoops well. First, Landry posted a video saying quote,
We're going to put a challenge out to the LSU
Board of Supervisors to find a place to put a
statue of Charlie Kirk to defend the freedom of speech
on college campuses.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
End quote, to.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Which LSU star Hooper Flage Johnson responded with the social
media post containing just four question marks, then a follow
up that said, quote, for the sake of clarity, if
you align yourself with or endorse his racist rhetoric and
discriminatory views toward people of color, I respectfully asked that
you utilize the unfollow option at the top right of
my profile.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Fair Offlage to question a Kirk statue on a campus
of a college he never attended, in a state in
which he never lived. Not to mention the whole racist
hate speech stuff, but there's another hoops connection. LSU basketball
coach Kim Mulky expressed sadness about the departure of former
ad Scott Woodward and said she's happy about the hiring
of new ad Verge Osbury.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Here's what she had.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
To say.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Me, So, anytime a coach is hired by somebody, you
have special feelings. My feelings are far deeper because I'm
from the state, and I want all of us to
always do good. I want us to look good. I
want us to smell good. I want us all everything
good about this state. So I'm happy I heard Verge
(10:24):
is now the AD. I'm happy because I think Verge
is like a lot of us. He grew up in
the state, this is his school, and.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Time will help all of us. Time will help all
of us?
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Is vague?
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Is Molty saying shell heel from the sadness of Woodward's departure?
Or is she saying that time will give some distance
for Ausbury's controversies, including a twenty twenty one suspension for
improperly handling complaints of physical and sexual use levied against
LSU athletes, and there's more. Osbury has a history of
not protecting women, not reporting abuse and assault, and subjecting
(11:07):
victims to further harm from known perpetrators. Oh and screaming
at female colleagues too for good measure. Friend of the
Show Nancy Armor has written about LSU and Osbury's multiple
scandals for years, and her latest for USA Today, entitled
did LSU Learn from sex abuse Scandal? Apparently not given
in aim ay d choice runs down the long list
of Osbury's previous offenses. We'll link to that story in
(11:29):
the show notes, along with the story Nancy co authored
on the school's years of covering up offenses against women.
So now I'll remind you that Kim Malki said she's
happy about Osbury's hiring, and that this is the same
woman who, when coaching at Baylor in the wake of
the football team's massive rape scandal, said quote, if somebody
is around you and they ever say I will never
(11:49):
send my daughter to Baylor, you knock them right in
the face.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
I will never understand this woman's commitment to ignoring and
sometimes even defending and enabling people or institutions who harm women. Finally,
to tennis, a reminder that the WTA finals conclude this weekend.
The semi finals of the women's singles tournament are today,
featuring Jessica Pagoula and Elena Rebacina in Semi final number one,
(12:14):
and Arena Sabalanka and Amanda and Anisimova in Semi number two.
We'll link to the full schedule in the show notes,
and one more tennis note, Venus Williams announced this week
that she's planning to play her thirty third season, yes,
thirty third, next year, beginning in Auckland, New Zealand, in January.
Since making her pro debut in nineteen ninety four, Williams
(12:35):
has entered at least two WT events every season. We're
happy to see you back, Venus.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
We got to take a quick break when we come back.
It's Lisa Blueder joining us now.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
She's a hoops analyst for NBC and the Big Ten
Network and the former head coach of the Iowah Hawkeyes
women men's basketball team, which she led to back to
back national championship games in twenty twenty three and twenty
twenty four. A hooper at the University of Northern Iowa,
she started her coaching career at Saint Ambrose then Drake
before leading the Hawkeyes for twenty four years, posting a
winning record in twenty three of them and advancing to
(13:16):
the NCAA Tournament eighteen. A three time Big Ten Coach
of the Year and the twenty nineteen Naysmith Coach of
the Year. Since retiring, she's been spotted courtside at a
w game with David Letterman hanging with Billy g and
King at the US Open and singing the seventh inning
stretch at Wrigley Field.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
It's Lisa Blueder.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Hi, Lisa, Hello, Sarah. It's good to see you.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
It's great to see you too. It's so fun seeing
you at that Cubs game. You were sitting just a
few rows away. Were there any nerves for the old
stadium serenade?
Speaker 3 (13:43):
One hundred percent nerves. I mean, I don't care about
playing in front of, you know, thousands of people, but
singing that's out of my box. So that was a
little bit tough. But my husband grew up a huge
Chicago Cubs fan. Obviously we're not that far from Chicago
here in Iowa City, so it was it was really fun.
I'm glad that I did it.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
It was also a nice friendly environment.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
The friendly confines always, but especially to you, is big
ten day, lots of people rocking their Iowa gear, lots
of people really excited to see you, which always makes
it a little easier when you're doing something outside your
comfort zone. Are percent I want to talk more about
post coaching life and all those adventures you're getting up to,
but first I want to ask about the decision to retire.
When someone is somewhere for decades, they provide so much
(14:28):
time for people to wonder, oh, how long do you
think they're going to do this?
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Will they ever? Will they ever leave? What was it
for you? What was the moment when you thought, Okay,
this is time.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
You know. I never really thought about retiring. I didn't
really enter my mind even leading up to you know,
through that National championship run and that game. It wasn't
really until afterwards and my husband and I were hiking
in Arizona and we started talking about it, and then
I put in a call to a friend of mine,
Marsha Sharp, who had retired at Texas Tech Tara, you know,
(15:01):
from Stanford, and just finding out, you know, what they
were thinking and just seeing, you know, first of all, okay,
Caitlin Clark's graduating, so okay, and we're just played in
the last two championships games. Not a bad time to
leave the game, go out on top, you know. But
also just some of the changes that were going on
within the college game or not something that I really embraced,
(15:25):
and I thought, it's just a good time to leave.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
We've heard that a lot from coaches that have been
in the game a long time, and I think it's
easy to be cynical and say it's coaches who want
the power of a player that doesn't have the ability
to transfer or doesn't have an al, But to me,
it actually feels like when you dive deeper in, there
is a transformative change to the job of the coach
who now becomes essentially a GM, especially with House versus
n Cuba having to dule out almost a salary cap
(15:50):
style idea of what they're going to pay the players
and how the team is going to interact with you know,
the player financially, but also you know, having tar Vander
Vere Muffett McGraw on who have no retired, they talked
about feeling like the player's relationship with the game had
become different. What was it for you about the change
in the game that made you think, I'm not really
interested in that.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Yeah, and I don't even really buyd the transfer portal
to me, you know, I think players should be able
to transfer, maybe not every single year exactly, they should have,
you know, a certain opportunity to transfer within their four
y five year career. And it really isn't the nil
that bothers me. I think that if they're truly using
their name, image and likeness to earn money, they should
(16:35):
be able to do that. They should have been able
to do that for years and years, and I think,
you know, we were so far behind. I don't know
that we would be where we are today if we
would have accepted that and embraced that earlier on. So
I think it's the collectives. It's paying the players that
bothers me. I feel like we've lost touch with collegiate
(16:57):
athletics as far as why they're really and the value
of an education and the value of lessons that you
learn from participating in sport. And it's more about me.
It's less about the team and the university and loyalties
and there's just so many things to it.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Totally, absolutely absolutely Do you ever so far since you've left,
had any regrets or payings of jealousy while watching games?
Speaker 3 (17:23):
You know, I really haven't. I know, I'm I'm kind
of surprised about that, to be quite honest. I thought
there would be a few, and I think my husband
was bracing himself. I think he was a little nervous
about that. But I really haven't, and it makes me
feel good about the decision I made that I have
not had those kind of questions come up in my mind.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Yeah, anyone trying to talk you out of retiring.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Not really. You know what I went into my athletic director.
You know, I think people kind of respected the decision
to walk away from something. And you know, people have
talked about other jobs, and I'm like, why would have
I left a good job that I had for forty
years and go into a you know, a job that
I don't consider as good. So yeah, you know, I
(18:07):
walked away from a good job and I feel good
about it.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
And like you said, it's kind of hard to convince
you not to go out on top like that. With
Caitlin retiring, we had gino Oriema on and he actually
joked about how he should have gone out when Stewie
left after her four titles. So seems like you were.
But he's doing okay. He got another one last year.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
Yeah, I do this doing okay, stand for sure.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
You know one of your three kids is a senior
player at Grennell College. One of my good friends is
a Hall of famer who she played at Grennell, And
so I think part of it too is you get
that opportunity to watch, and you got the opportunity to
like do some of the stuff of late that you
didn't get to do while coaching.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
That is a big part of our decision as well.
My son was going to be a senior. He was
a senior last year.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Like when you chose to retire, he was a senior.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
Yeah, yep. So I got to see him play in
almost every single game last year, and that's something you know,
I probably saw one percent of his games when I
was coaching, and I really didn't want to have those
kind of regrets that I didn't support him while he was,
you know, finishing up his basketball career. My daughter got engaged.
I had a daughter that got married this summer, so
(19:14):
I was kind of fully embracing the wedding preparation, where normally,
if I was working, I would have been like, Okay,
I got thirty minutes, let's talk flowers, let's get it done.
And now, you know, I mean, I just really enjoyed
the experience of being able to have that time with her,
and that's something I just don't regret.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Yeah, the Iowa Marching Band gave you a ten minute salute.
They I mean I watched this. This thing was incredible.
I went to Cornell. We didn't have a marching band,
we didn't have big old football game. So I love
watching the pageantry that comes out of those kind of spaces.
But they had it like people holding like an like
an animated basketball, kind of like a paper basketball that
they made look like it went through a hoop created
(19:53):
by the marching band members and then your face pops
up on the field.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
You couldn't be there for it because you were also working.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
I didn't get another award, But what did it mean
to you to feel like it was really like, I
don't know, some closure for a very long time spent
in one place.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
You know, first of all, I think we have an
unbelievable marching band. We are so blessed that we have
this great band that it just loves sports, loves to
perform in front of the unbelievable Hawkeye fans that we
have in Kinnick Stadium. I was shocked, really, I had
no idea this was going to happen until like the
week before, and so I was disappointed that I couldn't
(20:29):
be there. But it, you know, it really means a
lot that those kids like those you know, the kids
that are in the band or the spirit squad or
the cheer squad, that they're generally invested in our team
and cared about our team so much. That's what's impactful
to me.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Yeah, I mean, clearly Iowa women's basketball has taken on
a whole new meaning. And wait for that school, for
the state, for the Midwest.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
I mean, I'm in Chicago.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
There's corn mazes of Caitlin Clark in Indiana and Ohio
and Michigan everywhere, butter statues and everything else.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I wonder what it was like for you to watch
some of those players.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
That you had in a sort of smaller, more contained
space that was iowall go on to play in the
pros in front of a bigger national audience. Kaitlin Clark,
Kate Martin, Megan Gustafson. Is it nerve wracking to watch
them or are you able to just settle back and
enjoy the game?
Speaker 3 (21:20):
Not near is nerve wracking as coaching? For sure? Yeah,
you know, I'm just so proud of them. They've they've
you know, and Caitlyn first sort of playing basketball in
Carver Hawky Arena. There was a bunch of cardboard cutouts there. Okay,
so it was COVID. There was nobody in the stands.
So to go from that to where she is, now,
what a journey, you know. But I'm so proud of
(21:42):
those three and and all. You know, some of the
other great players that I had that haven't been able
to make it in the WNBA. But you know, that's
that's your legacy, right, and that's what you're just so
you're so happy for those guys.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
You mentioned the change for Caitlyn in particular, but for
you twenty plus years there, how did things change and
how different did it feel the last couple of years
as the madness around Caitlin grew. For you as a
coach who've been in the same building space city, but
watching everything blow.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Up, it was rewarding, you know. I mean, it's what
you dream of, right, It's what you want, what your
goals are, what you're trying to achieve. And it really
hit me when we had the crossover in Kinnick. I
mean people have asked me, like, you know, what were
your highlight moments? And you know, I mean, certainly the
(22:30):
championship games were highlight moments, but the crossover in Kinnick
to me, is more meaningful because we took over Kinnick Stadium,
We put a basketball floor down there, invited people to
come in, and we had over fifty five five hundred
people there and for that, you know, there was women
crying in the audience because they were so moved by
(22:53):
what was happening for women's athletics. It was it was
really touching, and we raised a quarter of a million
dollars or the University of Iowa Children's Hospital, and it
just showed us what we can accomplish when women come
together and really support each other. And I think that's
one of our most proud you know moments that we had.
And yeah, it was it was special.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
No, I'm gettels thinking about it because I love there
are women from a different generation and era and their
excitement and emotion over what they're seeing now, particularly those
who never really got the opportunity to fulfill or see
their own greatness be recognized in a space that it
deserved in that game, the volleyball.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Game in Nebraska.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
These incredible, you know, nearly one hundred thousand sometimes people
showing up for women's sports in different spaces.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
It's just incredible.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Did you have advice for Caitlin about handling the fame
and pressure that came with her rise as it was happening.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Oh, you know you talk a lot, right, You talk
a lot with your players about what's going on, and
you know, you talk to the rest of the team too,
not just Caitlin, but you know they're there too, and
you have to make sure you bring everybody along an
order for to have any success, because if you know,
players three, four, five are freaking out, you know, then
(24:11):
right you've lost, You've lost your team. So it wasn't
just Caitlin that had to manage that. It was the
entire team that had to manage that. And I'm really
proud of them. I'm really proud of the women that
weren't Caitlin because they were busting their butts every day.
They were working, you know, extremely hard, and you know,
(24:31):
and yet deservedly so. Caitlyn was getting you know, the
attention and the media and the publicity deals. Again, she
deserved all that. There's no nobody who was doubting that.
But you know, I'm proud of the women that worked
to help her get that spotlight.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Yeah, and it can be difficult even if you love
your teammate and you think they're deserving to still feel
like you're ever in their shadow, particularly because you're recruiting
some of the best of the best and they show
up and they want to have their talent recognized as well.
What was best part about coaching Caitlyn.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
I think the best part about coaching Caitlin was just
seeing her behind the scenes, you know, just being a
part of her life off the basketball court too. I
mean the basketball court provided all the wow moments, right,
I mean I got wow moments in practice, you know,
seeing some of the things that she did, the passes
she made, the scoring, and just the lack of fear
(25:26):
that she had. But to me, the highlights is probably
the fun times, you know, being in covid and going
down to San Antonio and being locked in the Lakita
Hotel with your team.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
I'm sure it wasn't ins and sweets.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
We had a slogan, live love life Lakita. I mean
that's what we live by till we got to move
over to the Marriott when we made the Sweet sixteen.
But you know, those are the times that you just remember,
is the goofy Caitlin, the Caitlin that you know is
not on show, but just being herself, because she honestly
(26:05):
is one of the most enjoyable people to be around.
She's funny, she laughs hard, and she loves big and
when she gets your trust, she loves big.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Toughest part about coaching Caitlin.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
The toughest part is sometimes she can be a little
stubborn and as I can be as well, and so
for you know, that can be this sometimes. But the
good thing is that she was always willing to learn
and she wanted to be her best, so she would
take it. She took coaching like she wanted to be coached.
But the hardest thing, and I've said this before, is that,
(26:41):
you know, the transformation from high school to college I
don't think was really easy for her. She didn't understand
how to play with other teammates because in high school
she did everything, you know, on her.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Own shoes and you could win that way.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Yeah, right, and so now it's like, well, you've got
to embrace your teammates. One thing she said to me
one time is well, they're not shooting as much as
I am. And I'm like, well, you're bringing them to
the gym with you, you know, So she learned those things.
She learned how to be a great teammate, and that
was probably one of the hardest, you know, lessons that
we had to teach her. But now I watch her
(27:16):
with the fever and I think she's a great teammate.
I mean from the outside, yeah, okay, I feel like,
you know, there's camaraderie there. I feel like there's joy
for each other there. So I think those lessons she
learned at Iowa have really gone with her to the WNBA. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
I'm a Chicago girl, so I don't make Michael Jordan
comparisons very often, but there are a few things that
stand out. Whether that's the famous practice where her team
was down and she came back and like whatever it was,
Gordon say a number of points in one minute.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
We've heard about that with Jordan and the.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Dream Team practices, or if it's figuring out how to
harness competitiveness and a desire for everyone to be as
good as you are into making people better instead of
frustrating them or condescending them.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
And we've seen that journey for her. It's really hard.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
It's not an easy thing to do, especially as a
young person, but that ability to turn that into greatness
instead of something that holds you back. Clearly is something
she's continuing to work on. Is just going to make
her even better and better. Were you surprised in that
first year of the w when she got to the fever,
the toxicity around that rivalry between her and Angel Reese
and the way it sort of became the story of
(28:24):
a league that.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Had so much else to talk about.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
Yeah, I'm disappointed. I was disappointed in that because there
is so much else to talk about, and these are
two young women that are just starting their careers and
you know, don't need that extra pressure or that extra
They don't need that. I mean, it was all created
by the media, and that's unfortunate for those two players.
So I'm really sad that that happened because I don't
(28:52):
want the WNBA to get attention or get viewership because
of those type of things. I want to get viewership
because of the great play, the great game that we have.
You know, let's support that and quit talking about this
other stuff.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Yeah, you know, it created some interesting thought exercises about
is all press good press? And also how do you
get the folks who aren't really watching and don't really
know it to talk about it on platforms everyone goes
to and is it a positive when they do, even
if they don't really know what they're talking about?
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Right?
Speaker 1 (29:23):
And that's ultimately what we saw so often was the
Angel versus Caitlin made it easy for shows like First
Take to talk about as opposed to them trying to
analyze whether this was one of the best rookie classes
we'd seen if they'd never watched any of the previous classes.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Right. But one of the things that kept.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Coming up, I think during that time was the history
of black players in the w and College having talked
about receiving more racist abuse and harassment from fans, getting
less in terms of endorsements and attention, and not always
being the center of the media spotlight, even if they
were as talented as white counterparts. We often saw players
from Brianna Stewart to Pagebackers talking about that at various spaces,
(29:59):
and it it's frustrating because it's coming from in some cases,
quote unquote fans who just want to project narratives onto
players and use their identities to prop up agendas, or.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
From media who want to use the sort of rage
and engage model of the Internet to get.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
People to fight about stuff instead of talk about the basketball.
Did that topic ever come up for you in the
locker room? Did you ever feel like you needed to
address it as a coach, either understanding what Iowa was
doing or where the players were going to end up
if they did make it to the pros.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
You know, it's more within our own team that we
talked about it more about what each of us are enduring.
That we don't know what everybody else is enduring. We
don't know what it's like to walking into another person's shoes.
So one of our things at IOWA we've really tried
to do was we spent time getting to know each other.
And I don't mean surface, I mean digging in and
(30:51):
what really bothers you? What was it like for you
to grow up in such and such a place, or
go to this church, or have parents like this or
and so we really dug into that and it would
get emotional at times. And you know, I think a
lot of people say, always spend time with our team.
There's a difference between spending time with your team and
(31:11):
really digging in and learning about somebody and understanding them
better because you're seeing things from their perspective, and so
I'm proud of the work that we did with that
when way were at Iowa.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
Yeah, and I think you can't always make your teammates
your best friends. But if you'd imagine playing with your
best friends, the kind of care you'd give them when
they struggled.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
The way you would want to see them succeed.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
If you can create those bonds through those connections of
deep understanding, you're more likely to see a team of
people that really want to work together towards something which
seems really smart when there are so many outside kind
of things trying to dig in. Okay, quick speed round.
Thing you miss the most about coaching practice? Yeah, thing
you missed the least about coaching recruiting.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
You don't like recruiting.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
I like the part when you get to them a
little bit. I'm not a fan of sitting in a
gym for twelve hours straight and starting to get blurry
eyed and I can't hear anymore because I've heard so
many whistles and horns and squeaky shoes all day, and
I've eaten this Freddy popcorn for lunch.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
And is this player that good? Or is the coach good?
Or is this player could be better if the coach wasn't.
This was supposed to be a speed round.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
But that has me thinking, clearly, you know a thing
or two about recruiting, because we had Muffett mcgrawn. She
talked about recruiting Caitlyn, getting her to commit to Notre Dame,
and then you know, Caitlyn changed her mind and went
to Iowa.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
What do you remember about that? And was there any
heart sell the last minute for you to get her
to make the switch.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
No, the cell came earlier, right, I mean, once she
told us she was not coming to I wish she
was going to Notre Dame, it was over. I mean,
we didn't, you know, pry into that at all, but
we did notice, Okay, she hasn't posted anything after she
cut us. She hasn't and now now it's weeks are passing,
and so I think we put a call into her
au coach just to find out what was going on
(33:00):
that kind of I realized then that she wasn't fully
on board with her decision to go to Notre Dame.
And so you know, there was no cell at the end.
She called me up and I can remember exactly where
I was sitting what we were eating when she called,
and I went out into the alley to get the
because I knew I was going to be exuberant if she,
(33:21):
you know, did commit to us. And she said, do
you still have a spot for me? Yes? I do,
I do. I didn't take long, so there was no
cell at the end. The cell happened really the years,
the years leading to that decision.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
My producer Alex says, the restaurant should rename whatever dish
you were having is the Caitlin Clark commitment, and then
people can go in there and tell I want some good.
It's like that Marry Me chicken. You know, you go
and you need something good to happen. You go eat
the Caitlin Clark commitment and it somehow tells the universe
that you need something to come back to you.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
That's a great idea.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
I love that story.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
And yeah, I mean it's it's a very sort of
like when the kids sit at the table with the
hats to say where they're going.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
It was the longest edition of the psych Out on
that one. She held the Notre Dame hat out for
weeks before she pulled it back.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
Psych Iowa, Yeah, what's the toughest part about creating a
new routine after twenty plus years in the same place
doing the same thing.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
The toughest part of making a new routine probably sleep.
I mean it's like, you know, when you're a coach,
your sleep is so sporadic. You're up late many nights,
you're getting up early. It's just crazy sleep. You sleep
in airplanes or whatever you can do. So having a
normal like kind of opportunity to sleep has been different,
you know. And I have a husband of forty some years,
(34:38):
and so getting you know, hey, we got our you.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
See him, you see him, We got you know.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
That's your side of the house. This is my side
of the Yeah, okay.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
The nice thing about your husband for this particular situation
is I believe he is an author and those folks
will disappear for hours. So if you need to replicate
what it was like for all your coaching years, tell
him to go work on the book.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
Give yourself a space. That's a good point. He's working
on a second.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
There we go, there we go.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Yeah, what's the thing you miss most about life on campus?
Speaker 3 (35:04):
The energy? You know, just you'll walk across campus and
there's all these young people and everybody's got a kind
of bounce to their step, and it's beautiful, right. The
Iowa campus is gorgeous, and so you know, it's really
just the energy, the camaraderie.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
I like being back on campuses for things, being surrounded
by people who are in the midst of like thinking
and spending a lot of time pondering.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
And I really loved school, so I missed that part
of it.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Well, that was a more intellectual answer than mine, was No, And.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
The energy of the young people, of course, yes, I
love young people.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Sure, sure. Well.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
Part of your new routine is joining the NBC broadcast
team as a women's basketball College count Down studio analyst.
And you worked the Big Ten, Big Twelve, Big East
games on NBC and Peacock for them, so that's going
to be fun seeing you calling those games. You actually
worked for Big Ten Network during the twenty twenty five
Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament, so you've gotten your feet wet.
What excites you about this full season opportunity that you
(35:58):
now have just to.
Speaker 3 (35:59):
Stay in time to it the game. I'm excited about it.
I'm excited to learn something new, right, Like you know,
it's it's fun at my age to be able to
learn something new and get excited about something and look
forward to something. And so I'm I'm looking forward to
learning more about the profession and growing through it and
just staying involved with the game. But I don't know
(36:20):
how much I'm gonna do. I'm not gonna be like
trying to take anybody's job away from it. That's not
what I want to do. I want to fill in
when they need me, when they want me. But you know,
I'm not here to like be a full time or
anything like that. I want to I want to enjoy
my retirement as well.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
Do you think even if you didn't take this job,
you'd still be watching a ton of college hoops or
what a part of you want to try to get
into stuff you haven't really had the time for before.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
Now, I'd probably still watch some college hoops. It's just
once it's in your blood, you know. I actually get
to watch more now that I'm retired, obviously. I guess
maybe that's obvious than I did when I was coaching,
because when you're coaching, you're just really watching your team
and your opponents. You don't get to be, you know,
watching that many teams from outside of your conference, and
so it's fun to see a lot more teams from
(37:05):
you know, around the country.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
Now, yeah, what's who are some of your favorite analysts
or folks that you look to as an example of
a job well done that You're like, I don't want
to copy them, but I'm taking notes.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
I had about an hour conversation with Debbie ant in
La yesterday. I just think she's tremendous. She knows the game,
she does her homework, She is kind of Switzerland. Everybody
likes her, you know.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
I mean, which is rare for people who call games
because everyone's always convinced they hate your team.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I really think she does a
great job. But you know, she and Beth Mowens have
worked together for thirty years and so they have an
advantage there. But I certainly want to learn from the best,
and I think Debbie's one of the best.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
When you were coaching, you obviously weren't listening to your
own team's game being broadcast live, But did you DVR them?
Did you ever hear how your team was being discussed
and think, wow, they really got that wrong. They're like,
that wasn't the play I was running? Or she did
what she was supposed to do.
Speaker 3 (37:57):
No, I never really did. I just watched it. You know,
you kind of clip it out and you really don't
listen to too much. I do listen to when they're
describing the other team, because I think maybe I can
pick something up, but not my own team. Now, let's
like get through it, you know, and let's try to
see what we need to do writer, or what we've
done writer, or what we need to improve on.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Probably wise for your mental health, and if something if
something was.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
Saying there was a lot of shit, No, no, I.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Just said as the person who knows, I find a
lot of people in the sports business, without a lot
of context or information, are convinced they would do a
better job than the coach who's coaching the team, and
not as often the broadcasters. But I think it would
frustrate me to see someone blab it on TV about
how we should have run this or should have done that,
and to know we did run that, they didn't do it,
(38:44):
or this was the reason we didn't do that, and
you're too stupid to know better, and so it's probably
best that you didn't engage. And I imagine something was
like so egregious that they said it. It would somehow
get back to you and you'd be able to tell
them before the next same.
Speaker 2 (38:56):
Hey, just a heads up.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
You keep saying this and we're actually running this or
this keeps coming up and that's not true because they're
doing their best. But sure one who knows what you
wrote on you know, the whiteboard. As the season gets
underway and you're gonna start calling some games, are there
a few players or teams that you're most intrigued and
excited to watch.
Speaker 3 (39:16):
Oh, I'm really excited to see Michigan in the Big Ten.
I think that's going to be They're a good young team.
They really did well at the end of the last year,
and so I'm excited to see them in action, you know.
And everybody is excited to see UCLA, and I mean
everybody's excited to see the top teams that are listed
right now. But I kind of want to see, you know,
(39:37):
I want to see Notre Dame play. I just there's
a lot of people that I want to see play
right now, but Michigan and the Big Ten has got
me intrigued a lot.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
Yeah, Notre Dame is a fascinating one. A lot of
player departures. Very curious to see what they're going to
look like this year. I would not be surprised if
they didn't.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
Make it out a round of thirty two.
Speaker 1 (39:55):
He didn't make the tournament even I don't know, it's
going to be really interesting to see what they do. Obviously,
Hannah to I'll go still such an incredible.
Speaker 3 (40:01):
Talent, but terrific.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Yeah. What about what about Iowa?
Speaker 1 (40:05):
Will we expect to any Lisa Bluter taking on Jan Jensen,
longtime protege, you know, criticizing her her decision making.
Speaker 3 (40:12):
Oh heck no, I know better than that, right, I
mean no, No, I want to be honest. I want
to be transparent. But I'm never going to be ripping
on any coach because again, I know what they're going through,
and so, you know, bringing a coach's perspective to this,
I think is is unique just because I do understand
what's you know, what's what they're going through a little bit.
(40:34):
So I'll probably have a little more compassion for my
coaching peers than other people would.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
Okay, last question for you.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
Since I mentioned Letterman, Bill Agean King, Wrigley Field, what's
one other standout moment from the what is it year
and a half or so, now that you've been out
of the game.
Speaker 3 (40:50):
One other standout moment would be probably going with Jason
Sideikas to the Hollywood Bowl. It was a Jimmy Buffett
tribute concert. Got to go with him and Beard and
Uh and my daughter Hannah who worked for me for
five years, So that was that was a highlight.
Speaker 1 (41:08):
I love that you know, part of the cast, Brendan
Hunt is a friend of mine, coach Beard, So I
love that you. I love that you got to go
with him and Ted Jason and go check it out.
Lot of a lot of good times ahead of you, Lisa,
I think in this nice little balance where you get
to say, I guess I'll work that day and then
I won't work these days, that sounds like a dream
to me.
Speaker 3 (41:28):
It is a blessing. It's a blessing. You've earned it.
Speaker 1 (41:31):
You've more than earned it. And thank you so much
for giving us sometime. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
Well, Sarah, thank you for what you've done for women's
athletics and and the what you know you're pushing the
equality and I'm just so proud of that that we
have young women that are stepping up and really talking
about how important this this game is for their development,
for women's development, and what we what we really deserve.
Speaker 1 (41:54):
We're going to clip off you calling me young, and
I'm going to replay that whenever I need it.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (42:02):
And I said, shit, sorry about that.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
Oh no, no, we say everything on this show the
only thing we believed. Okay, so you're good, Okay, all right, good,
Thanks again to Lisa for hanging out with us. We
got to take another break when we come back, bumble, But.
Speaker 2 (42:24):
Welcome back, slaicys.
Speaker 1 (42:25):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too, So here's our
good game play of the day. Check out Lisa Blueter
in action next Thursday, calling Iowa versus Drake aka the
two teams she spent thirty plus years coaching. That'll be
on the Big Ten Network. We'll remind you next week too.
Also check out the very cool illustrated look at the
WNBACBA negotiations and revenue share its posted by Underscore sports
(42:49):
Ball on Instagram. Kind of a new and different way
to see and understand a whole lot of the info
we've shared on the show very cool. We'll link to
it in our show notes, and we always love to
hear from you, so hit us up on email, good
game at wonder media dot com or leave us a
voicemail at eight seven to two two O four fifty seventy,
and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review. I tell
you every day slices because it's very important and helpful
(43:10):
to us, and it's super easy. Watch a bee with
a basketball for a butt? Rating ten out of ten,
no notes review. Now, if you remember my reaction to
last year's Unrivaled logo reveals, you'll know that I am
a big, big fan of this league's design team, particularly
the folks behind the first spooky sports logo. I'm aware
(43:30):
of Phantom BC. Why were we denied ghosts in our
logos for so long? So rad well, two new unrivaled
teams means two new logos. And while BREEZEBC is just okay,
you know palm trees have been done, the Hive BC
logo is chef's kiss. It's got a round cress with
honeycomb details on the sides, and then a bee in
(43:52):
the middle with a goddamn basketball for a butt.
Speaker 2 (43:55):
I'm obsessed.
Speaker 1 (43:57):
When we do our annual unrivaled pick your team exercise,
you better fucking believe that bumble butt is going to
factor into my decision.
Speaker 2 (44:04):
Now it's your turn, y'all.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
Rate and review, Thanks for listening, See you next week.
Good game, Lisa, Good game, bumble butt. A few men's
pro teams were being around so long they could get
away with dumb names like the Browns or the Red Sox.
Imagine being a social media admin unveiling one of those
kind of team names in the year twenty twenty five,
and don't get me started on the Predators.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
Yikes.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
But also, you know what, fuck you, Alex, because originally
putting Bearers as an example of a shitty team name,
that is my college team, my football team, and kind
of technically my baseball team too, So.
Speaker 2 (44:36):
You have thrice insulted me.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
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.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
Wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are.
Speaker 1 (44:52):
Alex Azie, Grace Lynch, Taylor Williamson, and Lucy Jones. Our
executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and
Emily rutter. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez and
Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from Avery LOFTUS and I'm Your
Host Sarah Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're googling
what's the job of an advisory board and is it
supposed to only include celebrities and influencers?
Speaker 2 (00:08):
And also what is a torrent? And is it that
thing that causes a computer virus?
Speaker 1 (00:12):
It's Friday, November seventh, and on today's show will be
answering those questions and talking to former Iowa hoops coach
at new NBC sports analyst Lisa Bluter about her new
role behind the broadcast desk, watching her former players hoop
in the pros, her twenty plus year career leading Iowa
women's basketball, and what it's like being.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
At the center of the Caitlin Clark commotion.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Plus pulling out the dictionary to get to know our
new teams hooping in the off season, and the age
old question WWMD. It's all coming up right after this
Welcome back slices, Happy Friday. Here's what you need to
know today. Let's start with the NWSL and this weekend's
(00:55):
four quarter final matchups. The playoffs get underway tonight with
the number four Orlando Pro hosting the number five Seattle
Rain at seven pm Eastern. Now, the Rain have been
in Orlando all week they stuck around after these two
teams played to a draw last weekend. For me, this
game is going to be about strategy and seniority. First,
what kind of changes might these coaches make to mix
things up and show some new looks after having just
(01:17):
matched up last weekend?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Second?
Speaker 1 (01:19):
How will the og vets on these teams impact things?
Will the rain have a little extra energy trying to
send retiring teammate Lauren Barnes out in style? On the
other side, WWMD, what will Marta do? She lives for
big games postseason, Marta is always a thrill.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
What will she do this year?
Speaker 1 (01:38):
On Saturday, the number two Washington Spirit host Number seven
Racing Louisville at twelve pm Eastern And this one comes
down to availability, composure.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And crowd.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Who's available and one hundred percent healthy? For the Spirit
they send a limited roster on the road last weekend?
Was that mostly just about rest or how many players
are coming and hobbled. Can a notoriously physical and oft
Penali Racing team show the composure that they found late
in the season and harness all their excitement for good
or will their first playoff outing be marred? By impetuous
(02:08):
or reckless play. Finally, how much will the rowdy Audi
crowd factor in tough place to play always in the postseason?
Woof The quarterfinal round wraps up Sunday with two matches. First,
number one Kansas City Current hosting number eight Gotham FC
at twelve thirty pm Eastern. Now, fun fact from the
folks over at the Full Time podcast, Gotham have never
(02:30):
beat the Current, not once in their ten NWSL meetings,
and the Current have been a buzzsaw all season long,
So really this is only an interesting game to me.
If good Gotham shows up, they got to look better
than last week, and just like the Spirit, there are
questions about who's healthy and available who sat last week
for rest versus injury that might be lingering into this matchup.
(02:51):
We've seen got Theam win it all from the bottom
of the bracket before, but it's Kansas City at home
where they haven't lost a game since July sixth, the
twenty twenty five war Sheesh. The second Sunday matchup is
the number three Portland Thorns hosting the number six San
Diego Wave at three pm Eastern. The Thorns surprised US
a bit by ending up as the number three seed,
while the Wave had a much better first half of
(03:13):
the season than second half, so their success feels like
it's going to depend on which team shows up on Sunday.
Possession points and Providence Park will decide this one. Wave
had possession more than any other team this season, and
they'll look to control the flow of the game. But
can they turn that control into actual points and finish
on the attack and an oft out of sink Portland
(03:33):
team might get the boost they need from a rowdy
home crowd to inspire individual excellence from the likes of
Olivia Moultrie or Sam Coffee, which may be all they need. Remember,
we had the athletics to Mark Griffin on the show
to chat all Things quarter Finals on Wednesday, so if
you missed it, go back and listen to that show
ahead of this weekend's games.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
More NWSL, The.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
League has announced the formation of a new advisory board,
calling the group a quote first of its kind initiative,
with a collective of investors, cultural leaders, and soccer legends
united by a shared commitment to accelerate the league's growth,
deep in its cultural impact and shape the future of
the women's game end quote. All twenty members include current
investors in the league, and most teams are represented by
(04:13):
one or two delegates, though some teams the Chicago Stars,
Houston Dash and Racing Louisville aren't represented at all. Inaugural
members include Alex Morgan, Lindsay Vaughan, Sabrina Yanescu, Sue Byrd,
Elizabeth Banks, Chris Paul, and Eli Manning. Per the League,
the committee will meet twice a year to collaborate together
on ideas and areas for growth. While the NWSL tapping
(04:35):
into its Star Studed investment group feels like a smart idea,
We're curious to see how the expertise and advice of
this particular group will be implemented to the PWHL. The
league announced the branding and names of its two expansion
teams on Thursday, officially unveiling them as the Seattle Torrent
and the Vancouver Goldeneyes Alex Google Torrent, which Merriam Webster
(04:55):
defines as a violent or forceful flow of fluid or
a rushing stream of water, or alternatively, a protocol that
is used to distribute a large computer file that has
been segmented in small pieces between a large number of
peer to peer users. Seattle, though sort of near Silicon Valley,
was going for the watery sense of the word, not
the computer kind. According to their press release, quote Torrent
(05:17):
draws inspiration from the powerful waterways that shape and connect
Washington's unique landscape, symbolizing the team's determination to carve its
own path. The logo features an S that serves as
both a letter form for Seattle and a rush of water,
its flowing curves mirroring river channels.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
The golden Eye's name is a nod to a type
of bird that is native to Vancouver, not the nineteen
ninety five.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
James Bond film.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
To be honest, not super familiar with golden eyes, so
I looked them up per Wikipedia. Common golden eyes are
aggressive and territorial ducks and have elaborate courtship displays. Y'all,
I googled golden eye courtship and these birds are breaking
their necks to get busy all. Put a link to
the video in the show notes. The big reveal about
these two teams comes just ahead of the start of
(06:02):
p WHL training camps, as teams welcome back players to
the ice next week ahead of the first game of
the season between the newly dubbed Goldeneyes and Torrent on
November twenty first to unrivaled rosters for season two of
the three v three League were unveiled on Wednesday night,
using a multi step process that gave og unrivaled teams
the chance to protect players while also giving coaches of
(06:23):
all eight teams the ability to draft players. To get
the process started, the forty eight person player pool was
divided into six groups based on position, and every club
was required to ensure that its roster included one player
from each group.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Teams that made the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
In twenty twenty five, that's the Lunar Owls, Rose, Vinyl,
and Laces were allowed to retain two players from their
season one roster, while non playoff teams Myst and Phantom
were limited to one returning player.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Those players were then exempt from the draft.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Teams then took turns, beginning with expansion sides Breeze and Hive,
selecting from the remaining players. This part of the process
was held internally. Totally clear how it all went down,
but the Breeze ended up with a super young roster
that includes Paige Beeckers, Dominique Malanga, Rakia Jackson, Erry MacDonald,
Kate Martin and Cam Brink, while the Lunar Owls return
(07:12):
to Fisa Collier and Skyler Diggins and then add Marina Maybray,
Aliah Edwards, Rachel Bannam and Rebecca Allen. We'll link to
all eight rosters in the show notes. More hoops necka
Oguo Mackay has announced that she's signed a contract with
Project B, making her the first player publicly known to
have signed with the Global league, which will launch in
twenty twenty six during the WNBA off season. Project B
(07:35):
is similar to Unrivaled boasts higher salaries than those in
the W and is also offering players equity. The league,
which is headquartered in Singapore, has a handful of high
profile athlete investors, including Candas Parker, and has also partnered
with the entertainment company SELA, which is owned by Saudi
Arabia's sovereign Wealth Fund. More hoops and soccer basketball star
(07:56):
Juju Watkins maybe sidelined for the season, but she's still
making moves. On Thursday, the usc Guard announced she's joined
the investor group of NWSL expansion team Boston Legacy FC.
With a press release describing Watkins's quote the first college
athlete to directly invest in a professional women's sports team
end quote, which honestly kind of confused us for a
sec because.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Didn't Juju also invest in Unrivaled last year?
Speaker 1 (08:18):
But then we got clarification from the legacy that this
is Juju's first investment specifically in a team, while her
Unrivaled investment was for the league as a whole. More hoops,
don't forget the college of basketball season is under way,
so we'll post a link to the full schedule of
this weekend's games, which includes two top twenty five matchups.
Number four Texas hosting number twenty four Richmond tonight, while
(08:40):
number eighteen USC will take on number nine NC State
on Sunday. One More college hoops note, in case you
haven't heard, LSU is in a bit of a pickle.
Over the course of the last eight days, the school
fired its football coach, nudged out its athletic director, and
named a new president, new chancellor, and replacement athletic director,
all decisions made with what feels like an immense amount
(09:01):
of influence from Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry. The connection to
women's hoops well. First, Landry posted a video saying quote,
We're going to put a challenge out to the LSU
Board of Supervisors to find a place to put a
statue of Charlie Kirk to defend the freedom of speech
on college campuses.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
End quote, to.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Which LSU star Hooper Flage Johnson responded with the social
media post containing just four question marks, then a follow
up that said, quote, for the sake of clarity, if
you align yourself with or endorse his racist rhetoric and
discriminatory views toward people of color, I respectfully asked that
you utilize the unfollow option at the top right of
my profile.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Fair Offlage to question a Kirk statue on a campus
of a college he never attended, in a state in
which he never lived. Not to mention the whole racist
hate speech stuff, but there's another hoops connection. LSU basketball
coach Kim Mulky expressed sadness about the departure of former
ad Scott Woodward and said she's happy about the hiring
of new ad Verge Osbury.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Here's what she had.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
To say.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Me, So, anytime a coach is hired by somebody, you
have special feelings. My feelings are far deeper because I'm
from the state, and I want all of us to
always do good. I want us to look good. I
want us to smell good. I want us all everything
good about this state. So I'm happy I heard Verge
(10:24):
is now the AD. I'm happy because I think Verge
is like a lot of us. He grew up in
the state, this is his school, and.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Time will help all of us. Time will help all
of us?
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Is vague?
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Is Molty saying shell heel from the sadness of Woodward's departure?
Or is she saying that time will give some distance
for Ausbury's controversies, including a twenty twenty one suspension for
improperly handling complaints of physical and sexual use levied against
LSU athletes, and there's more. Osbury has a history of
not protecting women, not reporting abuse and assault, and subjecting
(11:07):
victims to further harm from known perpetrators. Oh and screaming
at female colleagues too for good measure. Friend of the
Show Nancy Armor has written about LSU and Osbury's multiple
scandals for years, and her latest for USA Today, entitled
did LSU Learn from sex abuse Scandal? Apparently not given
in aim ay d choice runs down the long list
of Osbury's previous offenses. We'll link to that story in
(11:29):
the show notes, along with the story Nancy co authored
on the school's years of covering up offenses against women.
So now I'll remind you that Kim Malki said she's
happy about Osbury's hiring, and that this is the same
woman who, when coaching at Baylor in the wake of
the football team's massive rape scandal, said quote, if somebody
is around you and they ever say I will never
(11:49):
send my daughter to Baylor, you knock them right in
the face.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
I will never understand this woman's commitment to ignoring and
sometimes even defending and enabling people or institutions who harm women. Finally,
to tennis, a reminder that the WTA finals conclude this weekend.
The semi finals of the women's singles tournament are today,
featuring Jessica Pagoula and Elena Rebacina in Semi final number one,
(12:14):
and Arena Sabalanka and Amanda and Anisimova in Semi number two.
We'll link to the full schedule in the show notes,
and one more tennis note, Venus Williams announced this week
that she's planning to play her thirty third season, yes,
thirty third, next year, beginning in Auckland, New Zealand, in January.
Since making her pro debut in nineteen ninety four, Williams
(12:35):
has entered at least two WT events every season. We're
happy to see you back, Venus.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
We got to take a quick break when we come back.
It's Lisa Blueder joining us now.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
She's a hoops analyst for NBC and the Big Ten
Network and the former head coach of the Iowah Hawkeyes
women men's basketball team, which she led to back to
back national championship games in twenty twenty three and twenty
twenty four. A hooper at the University of Northern Iowa,
she started her coaching career at Saint Ambrose then Drake
before leading the Hawkeyes for twenty four years, posting a
winning record in twenty three of them and advancing to
(13:16):
the NCAA Tournament eighteen. A three time Big Ten Coach
of the Year and the twenty nineteen Naysmith Coach of
the Year. Since retiring, she's been spotted courtside at a
w game with David Letterman hanging with Billy g and
King at the US Open and singing the seventh inning
stretch at Wrigley Field.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
It's Lisa Blueder.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Hi, Lisa, Hello, Sarah. It's good to see you.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
It's great to see you too. It's so fun seeing
you at that Cubs game. You were sitting just a
few rows away. Were there any nerves for the old
stadium serenade?
Speaker 3 (13:43):
One hundred percent nerves. I mean, I don't care about
playing in front of, you know, thousands of people, but
singing that's out of my box. So that was a
little bit tough. But my husband grew up a huge
Chicago Cubs fan. Obviously we're not that far from Chicago
here in Iowa City, so it was it was really fun.
I'm glad that I did it.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
It was also a nice friendly environment.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
The friendly confines always, but especially to you, is big
ten day, lots of people rocking their Iowa gear, lots
of people really excited to see you, which always makes
it a little easier when you're doing something outside your
comfort zone. Are percent I want to talk more about
post coaching life and all those adventures you're getting up to,
but first I want to ask about the decision to retire.
When someone is somewhere for decades, they provide so much
(14:28):
time for people to wonder, oh, how long do you
think they're going to do this?
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Will they ever? Will they ever leave? What was it
for you? What was the moment when you thought, Okay,
this is time.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
You know. I never really thought about retiring. I didn't
really enter my mind even leading up to you know,
through that National championship run and that game. It wasn't
really until afterwards and my husband and I were hiking
in Arizona and we started talking about it, and then
I put in a call to a friend of mine,
Marsha Sharp, who had retired at Texas Tech Tara, you know,
(15:01):
from Stanford, and just finding out, you know, what they
were thinking and just seeing, you know, first of all, okay,
Caitlin Clark's graduating, so okay, and we're just played in
the last two championships games. Not a bad time to
leave the game, go out on top, you know. But
also just some of the changes that were going on
within the college game or not something that I really embraced,
(15:25):
and I thought, it's just a good time to leave.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
We've heard that a lot from coaches that have been
in the game a long time, and I think it's
easy to be cynical and say it's coaches who want
the power of a player that doesn't have the ability
to transfer or doesn't have an al, But to me,
it actually feels like when you dive deeper in, there
is a transformative change to the job of the coach
who now becomes essentially a GM, especially with House versus
n Cuba having to dule out almost a salary cap
(15:50):
style idea of what they're going to pay the players
and how the team is going to interact with you know,
the player financially, but also you know, having tar Vander
Vere Muffett McGraw on who have no retired, they talked
about feeling like the player's relationship with the game had
become different. What was it for you about the change
in the game that made you think, I'm not really
interested in that.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Yeah, and I don't even really buyd the transfer portal
to me, you know, I think players should be able
to transfer, maybe not every single year exactly, they should have,
you know, a certain opportunity to transfer within their four
y five year career. And it really isn't the nil
that bothers me. I think that if they're truly using
their name, image and likeness to earn money, they should
(16:35):
be able to do that. They should have been able
to do that for years and years, and I think,
you know, we were so far behind. I don't know
that we would be where we are today if we
would have accepted that and embraced that earlier on. So
I think it's the collectives. It's paying the players that
bothers me. I feel like we've lost touch with collegiate
(16:57):
athletics as far as why they're really and the value
of an education and the value of lessons that you
learn from participating in sport. And it's more about me.
It's less about the team and the university and loyalties
and there's just so many things to it.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Totally, absolutely absolutely Do you ever so far since you've left,
had any regrets or payings of jealousy while watching games?
Speaker 3 (17:23):
You know, I really haven't. I know, I'm I'm kind
of surprised about that, to be quite honest. I thought
there would be a few, and I think my husband
was bracing himself. I think he was a little nervous
about that. But I really haven't, and it makes me
feel good about the decision I made that I have
not had those kind of questions come up in my mind.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Yeah, anyone trying to talk you out of retiring.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Not really. You know what I went into my athletic director.
You know, I think people kind of respected the decision
to walk away from something. And you know, people have
talked about other jobs, and I'm like, why would have
I left a good job that I had for forty
years and go into a you know, a job that
I don't consider as good. So yeah, you know, I
(18:07):
walked away from a good job and I feel good
about it.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
And like you said, it's kind of hard to convince
you not to go out on top like that. With
Caitlin retiring, we had gino Oriema on and he actually
joked about how he should have gone out when Stewie
left after her four titles. So seems like you were.
But he's doing okay. He got another one last year.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
Yeah, I do this doing okay, stand for sure.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
You know one of your three kids is a senior
player at Grennell College. One of my good friends is
a Hall of famer who she played at Grennell, And
so I think part of it too is you get
that opportunity to watch, and you got the opportunity to
like do some of the stuff of late that you
didn't get to do while coaching.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
That is a big part of our decision as well.
My son was going to be a senior. He was
a senior last year.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Like when you chose to retire, he was a senior.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
Yeah, yep. So I got to see him play in
almost every single game last year, and that's something you know,
I probably saw one percent of his games when I
was coaching, and I really didn't want to have those
kind of regrets that I didn't support him while he was,
you know, finishing up his basketball career. My daughter got engaged.
I had a daughter that got married this summer, so
(19:14):
I was kind of fully embracing the wedding preparation, where normally,
if I was working, I would have been like, Okay,
I got thirty minutes, let's talk flowers, let's get it done.
And now, you know, I mean, I just really enjoyed
the experience of being able to have that time with her,
and that's something I just don't regret.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Yeah, the Iowa Marching Band gave you a ten minute salute.
They I mean I watched this. This thing was incredible.
I went to Cornell. We didn't have a marching band,
we didn't have big old football game. So I love
watching the pageantry that comes out of those kind of spaces.
But they had it like people holding like an like
an animated basketball, kind of like a paper basketball that
they made look like it went through a hoop created
(19:53):
by the marching band members and then your face pops
up on the field.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
You couldn't be there for it because you were also working.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
I didn't get another award, But what did it mean
to you to feel like it was really like, I
don't know, some closure for a very long time spent
in one place.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
You know, first of all, I think we have an
unbelievable marching band. We are so blessed that we have
this great band that it just loves sports, loves to
perform in front of the unbelievable Hawkeye fans that we
have in Kinnick Stadium. I was shocked, really, I had
no idea this was going to happen until like the
week before, and so I was disappointed that I couldn't
(20:29):
be there. But it, you know, it really means a
lot that those kids like those you know, the kids
that are in the band or the spirit squad or
the cheer squad, that they're generally invested in our team
and cared about our team so much. That's what's impactful
to me.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Yeah, I mean, clearly Iowa women's basketball has taken on
a whole new meaning. And wait for that school, for
the state, for the Midwest.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
I mean, I'm in Chicago.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
There's corn mazes of Caitlin Clark in Indiana and Ohio
and Michigan everywhere, butter statues and everything else.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I wonder what it was like for you to watch
some of those players.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
That you had in a sort of smaller, more contained
space that was iowall go on to play in the
pros in front of a bigger national audience. Kaitlin Clark,
Kate Martin, Megan Gustafson. Is it nerve wracking to watch
them or are you able to just settle back and
enjoy the game?
Speaker 3 (21:20):
Not near is nerve wracking as coaching? For sure? Yeah,
you know, I'm just so proud of them. They've they've
you know, and Caitlyn first sort of playing basketball in
Carver Hawky Arena. There was a bunch of cardboard cutouts there. Okay,
so it was COVID. There was nobody in the stands.
So to go from that to where she is, now,
what a journey, you know. But I'm so proud of
(21:42):
those three and and all. You know, some of the
other great players that I had that haven't been able
to make it in the WNBA. But you know, that's
that's your legacy, right, and that's what you're just so
you're so happy for those guys.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
You mentioned the change for Caitlyn in particular, but for
you twenty plus years there, how did things change and
how different did it feel the last couple of years
as the madness around Caitlin grew. For you as a
coach who've been in the same building space city, but
watching everything blow.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Up, it was rewarding, you know. I mean, it's what
you dream of, right, It's what you want, what your
goals are, what you're trying to achieve. And it really
hit me when we had the crossover in Kinnick. I
mean people have asked me, like, you know, what were
your highlight moments? And you know, I mean, certainly the
(22:30):
championship games were highlight moments, but the crossover in Kinnick
to me, is more meaningful because we took over Kinnick Stadium,
We put a basketball floor down there, invited people to
come in, and we had over fifty five five hundred
people there and for that, you know, there was women
crying in the audience because they were so moved by
(22:53):
what was happening for women's athletics. It was it was
really touching, and we raised a quarter of a million
dollars or the University of Iowa Children's Hospital, and it
just showed us what we can accomplish when women come
together and really support each other. And I think that's
one of our most proud you know moments that we had.
And yeah, it was it was special.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
No, I'm gettels thinking about it because I love there
are women from a different generation and era and their
excitement and emotion over what they're seeing now, particularly those
who never really got the opportunity to fulfill or see
their own greatness be recognized in a space that it
deserved in that game, the volleyball.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Game in Nebraska.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
These incredible, you know, nearly one hundred thousand sometimes people
showing up for women's sports in different spaces.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
It's just incredible.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Did you have advice for Caitlin about handling the fame
and pressure that came with her rise as it was happening.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Oh, you know you talk a lot, right, You talk
a lot with your players about what's going on, and
you know, you talk to the rest of the team too,
not just Caitlin, but you know they're there too, and
you have to make sure you bring everybody along an
order for to have any success, because if you know,
players three, four, five are freaking out, you know, then
(24:11):
right you've lost, You've lost your team. So it wasn't
just Caitlin that had to manage that. It was the
entire team that had to manage that. And I'm really
proud of them. I'm really proud of the women that
weren't Caitlin because they were busting their butts every day.
They were working, you know, extremely hard, and you know,
(24:31):
and yet deservedly so. Caitlyn was getting you know, the
attention and the media and the publicity deals. Again, she
deserved all that. There's no nobody who was doubting that.
But you know, I'm proud of the women that worked
to help her get that spotlight.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Yeah, and it can be difficult even if you love
your teammate and you think they're deserving to still feel
like you're ever in their shadow, particularly because you're recruiting
some of the best of the best and they show
up and they want to have their talent recognized as well.
What was best part about coaching Caitlyn.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
I think the best part about coaching Caitlin was just
seeing her behind the scenes, you know, just being a
part of her life off the basketball court too. I
mean the basketball court provided all the wow moments, right,
I mean I got wow moments in practice, you know,
seeing some of the things that she did, the passes
she made, the scoring, and just the lack of fear
(25:26):
that she had. But to me, the highlights is probably
the fun times, you know, being in covid and going
down to San Antonio and being locked in the Lakita
Hotel with your team.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
I'm sure it wasn't ins and sweets.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
We had a slogan, live love life Lakita. I mean
that's what we live by till we got to move
over to the Marriott when we made the Sweet sixteen.
But you know, those are the times that you just remember,
is the goofy Caitlin, the Caitlin that you know is
not on show, but just being herself, because she honestly
(26:05):
is one of the most enjoyable people to be around.
She's funny, she laughs hard, and she loves big and
when she gets your trust, she loves big.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Toughest part about coaching Caitlin.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
The toughest part is sometimes she can be a little
stubborn and as I can be as well, and so
for you know, that can be this sometimes. But the
good thing is that she was always willing to learn
and she wanted to be her best, so she would
take it. She took coaching like she wanted to be coached.
But the hardest thing, and I've said this before, is that,
(26:41):
you know, the transformation from high school to college I
don't think was really easy for her. She didn't understand
how to play with other teammates because in high school
she did everything, you know, on her.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Own shoes and you could win that way.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Yeah, right, and so now it's like, well, you've got
to embrace your teammates. One thing she said to me
one time is well, they're not shooting as much as
I am. And I'm like, well, you're bringing them to
the gym with you, you know, So she learned those things.
She learned how to be a great teammate, and that
was probably one of the hardest, you know, lessons that
we had to teach her. But now I watch her
(27:16):
with the fever and I think she's a great teammate.
I mean from the outside, yeah, okay, I feel like,
you know, there's camaraderie there. I feel like there's joy
for each other there. So I think those lessons she
learned at Iowa have really gone with her to the WNBA. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
I'm a Chicago girl, so I don't make Michael Jordan
comparisons very often, but there are a few things that
stand out. Whether that's the famous practice where her team
was down and she came back and like whatever it was,
Gordon say a number of points in one minute.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
We've heard about that with Jordan and the.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Dream Team practices, or if it's figuring out how to
harness competitiveness and a desire for everyone to be as
good as you are into making people better instead of
frustrating them or condescending them.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
And we've seen that journey for her. It's really hard.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
It's not an easy thing to do, especially as a
young person, but that ability to turn that into greatness
instead of something that holds you back. Clearly is something
she's continuing to work on. Is just going to make
her even better and better. Were you surprised in that
first year of the w when she got to the fever,
the toxicity around that rivalry between her and Angel Reese
and the way it sort of became the story of
(28:24):
a league that.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Had so much else to talk about.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
Yeah, I'm disappointed. I was disappointed in that because there
is so much else to talk about, and these are
two young women that are just starting their careers and
you know, don't need that extra pressure or that extra
They don't need that. I mean, it was all created
by the media, and that's unfortunate for those two players.
So I'm really sad that that happened because I don't
(28:52):
want the WNBA to get attention or get viewership because
of those type of things. I want to get viewership
because of the great play, the great game that we have.
You know, let's support that and quit talking about this
other stuff.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Yeah, you know, it created some interesting thought exercises about
is all press good press? And also how do you
get the folks who aren't really watching and don't really
know it to talk about it on platforms everyone goes
to and is it a positive when they do, even
if they don't really know what they're talking about?
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Right?
Speaker 1 (29:23):
And that's ultimately what we saw so often was the
Angel versus Caitlin made it easy for shows like First
Take to talk about as opposed to them trying to
analyze whether this was one of the best rookie classes
we'd seen if they'd never watched any of the previous classes.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Right. But one of the things that kept.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Coming up, I think during that time was the history
of black players in the w and College having talked
about receiving more racist abuse and harassment from fans, getting
less in terms of endorsements and attention, and not always
being the center of the media spotlight, even if they
were as talented as white counterparts. We often saw players
from Brianna Stewart to Pagebackers talking about that at various spaces,
(29:59):
and it it's frustrating because it's coming from in some cases,
quote unquote fans who just want to project narratives onto
players and use their identities to prop up agendas, or.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
From media who want to use the sort of rage
and engage model of the Internet to get.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
People to fight about stuff instead of talk about the basketball.
Did that topic ever come up for you in the
locker room? Did you ever feel like you needed to
address it as a coach, either understanding what Iowa was
doing or where the players were going to end up
if they did make it to the pros.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
You know, it's more within our own team that we
talked about it more about what each of us are enduring.
That we don't know what everybody else is enduring. We
don't know what it's like to walking into another person's shoes.
So one of our things at IOWA we've really tried
to do was we spent time getting to know each other.
And I don't mean surface, I mean digging in and
(30:51):
what really bothers you? What was it like for you
to grow up in such and such a place, or
go to this church, or have parents like this or
and so we really dug into that and it would
get emotional at times. And you know, I think a
lot of people say, always spend time with our team.
There's a difference between spending time with your team and
(31:11):
really digging in and learning about somebody and understanding them
better because you're seeing things from their perspective, and so
I'm proud of the work that we did with that
when way were at Iowa.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
Yeah, and I think you can't always make your teammates
your best friends. But if you'd imagine playing with your
best friends, the kind of care you'd give them when
they struggled.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
The way you would want to see them succeed.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
If you can create those bonds through those connections of
deep understanding, you're more likely to see a team of
people that really want to work together towards something which
seems really smart when there are so many outside kind
of things trying to dig in. Okay, quick speed round.
Thing you miss the most about coaching practice? Yeah, thing
you missed the least about coaching recruiting.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
You don't like recruiting.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
I like the part when you get to them a
little bit. I'm not a fan of sitting in a
gym for twelve hours straight and starting to get blurry
eyed and I can't hear anymore because I've heard so
many whistles and horns and squeaky shoes all day, and
I've eaten this Freddy popcorn for lunch.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
And is this player that good? Or is the coach good?
Or is this player could be better if the coach wasn't.
This was supposed to be a speed round.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
But that has me thinking, clearly, you know a thing
or two about recruiting, because we had Muffett mcgrawn. She
talked about recruiting Caitlyn, getting her to commit to Notre Dame,
and then you know, Caitlyn changed her mind and went
to Iowa.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
What do you remember about that? And was there any
heart sell the last minute for you to get her
to make the switch.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
No, the cell came earlier, right, I mean, once she
told us she was not coming to I wish she
was going to Notre Dame, it was over. I mean,
we didn't, you know, pry into that at all, but
we did notice, Okay, she hasn't posted anything after she
cut us. She hasn't and now now it's weeks are passing,
and so I think we put a call into her
au coach just to find out what was going on
(33:00):
that kind of I realized then that she wasn't fully
on board with her decision to go to Notre Dame.
And so you know, there was no cell at the end.
She called me up and I can remember exactly where
I was sitting what we were eating when she called,
and I went out into the alley to get the
because I knew I was going to be exuberant if she,
(33:21):
you know, did commit to us. And she said, do
you still have a spot for me? Yes? I do,
I do. I didn't take long, so there was no
cell at the end. The cell happened really the years,
the years leading to that decision.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
My producer Alex says, the restaurant should rename whatever dish
you were having is the Caitlin Clark commitment, and then
people can go in there and tell I want some good.
It's like that Marry Me chicken. You know, you go
and you need something good to happen. You go eat
the Caitlin Clark commitment and it somehow tells the universe
that you need something to come back to you.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
That's a great idea.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
I love that story.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
And yeah, I mean it's it's a very sort of
like when the kids sit at the table with the
hats to say where they're going.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
It was the longest edition of the psych Out on
that one. She held the Notre Dame hat out for
weeks before she pulled it back.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
Psych Iowa, Yeah, what's the toughest part about creating a
new routine after twenty plus years in the same place
doing the same thing.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
The toughest part of making a new routine probably sleep.
I mean it's like, you know, when you're a coach,
your sleep is so sporadic. You're up late many nights,
you're getting up early. It's just crazy sleep. You sleep
in airplanes or whatever you can do. So having a
normal like kind of opportunity to sleep has been different,
you know. And I have a husband of forty some years,
(34:38):
and so getting you know, hey, we got our you.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
See him, you see him, We got you know.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
That's your side of the house. This is my side
of the Yeah, okay.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
The nice thing about your husband for this particular situation
is I believe he is an author and those folks
will disappear for hours. So if you need to replicate
what it was like for all your coaching years, tell
him to go work on the book.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
Give yourself a space. That's a good point. He's working
on a second.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
There we go, there we go.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Yeah, what's the thing you miss most about life on campus?
Speaker 3 (35:04):
The energy? You know, just you'll walk across campus and
there's all these young people and everybody's got a kind
of bounce to their step, and it's beautiful, right. The
Iowa campus is gorgeous, and so you know, it's really
just the energy, the camaraderie.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
I like being back on campuses for things, being surrounded
by people who are in the midst of like thinking
and spending a lot of time pondering.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
And I really loved school, so I missed that part
of it.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Well, that was a more intellectual answer than mine, was No, And.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
The energy of the young people, of course, yes, I
love young people.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Sure, sure. Well.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
Part of your new routine is joining the NBC broadcast
team as a women's basketball College count Down studio analyst.
And you worked the Big Ten, Big Twelve, Big East
games on NBC and Peacock for them, so that's going
to be fun seeing you calling those games. You actually
worked for Big Ten Network during the twenty twenty five
Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament, so you've gotten your feet wet.
What excites you about this full season opportunity that you
(35:58):
now have just to.
Speaker 3 (35:59):
Stay in time to it the game. I'm excited about it.
I'm excited to learn something new, right, Like you know,
it's it's fun at my age to be able to
learn something new and get excited about something and look
forward to something. And so I'm I'm looking forward to
learning more about the profession and growing through it and
just staying involved with the game. But I don't know
(36:20):
how much I'm gonna do. I'm not gonna be like
trying to take anybody's job away from it. That's not
what I want to do. I want to fill in
when they need me, when they want me. But you know,
I'm not here to like be a full time or
anything like that. I want to I want to enjoy
my retirement as well.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
Do you think even if you didn't take this job,
you'd still be watching a ton of college hoops or
what a part of you want to try to get
into stuff you haven't really had the time for before.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
Now, I'd probably still watch some college hoops. It's just
once it's in your blood, you know. I actually get
to watch more now that I'm retired, obviously. I guess
maybe that's obvious than I did when I was coaching,
because when you're coaching, you're just really watching your team
and your opponents. You don't get to be, you know,
watching that many teams from outside of your conference, and
so it's fun to see a lot more teams from
(37:05):
you know, around the country.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
Now, yeah, what's who are some of your favorite analysts
or folks that you look to as an example of
a job well done that You're like, I don't want
to copy them, but I'm taking notes.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
I had about an hour conversation with Debbie ant in
La yesterday. I just think she's tremendous. She knows the game,
she does her homework, She is kind of Switzerland. Everybody
likes her, you know.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
I mean, which is rare for people who call games
because everyone's always convinced they hate your team.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I really think she does a
great job. But you know, she and Beth Mowens have
worked together for thirty years and so they have an
advantage there. But I certainly want to learn from the best,
and I think Debbie's one of the best.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
When you were coaching, you obviously weren't listening to your
own team's game being broadcast live, But did you DVR them?
Did you ever hear how your team was being discussed
and think, wow, they really got that wrong. They're like,
that wasn't the play I was running? Or she did
what she was supposed to do.
Speaker 3 (37:57):
No, I never really did. I just watched it. You know,
you kind of clip it out and you really don't
listen to too much. I do listen to when they're
describing the other team, because I think maybe I can
pick something up, but not my own team. Now, let's
like get through it, you know, and let's try to
see what we need to do writer, or what we've
done writer, or what we need to improve on.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Probably wise for your mental health, and if something if
something was.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
Saying there was a lot of shit, No, no, I.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Just said as the person who knows, I find a
lot of people in the sports business, without a lot
of context or information, are convinced they would do a
better job than the coach who's coaching the team, and
not as often the broadcasters. But I think it would
frustrate me to see someone blab it on TV about
how we should have run this or should have done that,
and to know we did run that, they didn't do it,
(38:44):
or this was the reason we didn't do that, and
you're too stupid to know better, and so it's probably
best that you didn't engage. And I imagine something was
like so egregious that they said it. It would somehow
get back to you and you'd be able to tell
them before the next same.
Speaker 2 (38:56):
Hey, just a heads up.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
You keep saying this and we're actually running this or
this keeps coming up and that's not true because they're
doing their best. But sure one who knows what you
wrote on you know, the whiteboard. As the season gets
underway and you're gonna start calling some games, are there
a few players or teams that you're most intrigued and
excited to watch.
Speaker 3 (39:16):
Oh, I'm really excited to see Michigan in the Big Ten.
I think that's going to be They're a good young team.
They really did well at the end of the last year,
and so I'm excited to see them in action, you know.
And everybody is excited to see UCLA, and I mean
everybody's excited to see the top teams that are listed
right now. But I kind of want to see, you know,
(39:37):
I want to see Notre Dame play. I just there's
a lot of people that I want to see play
right now, but Michigan and the Big Ten has got
me intrigued a lot.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
Yeah, Notre Dame is a fascinating one. A lot of
player departures. Very curious to see what they're going to
look like this year. I would not be surprised if
they didn't.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
Make it out a round of thirty two.
Speaker 1 (39:55):
He didn't make the tournament even I don't know, it's
going to be really interesting to see what they do. Obviously,
Hannah to I'll go still such an incredible.
Speaker 3 (40:01):
Talent, but terrific.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Yeah. What about what about Iowa?
Speaker 1 (40:05):
Will we expect to any Lisa Bluter taking on Jan Jensen,
longtime protege, you know, criticizing her her decision making.
Speaker 3 (40:12):
Oh heck no, I know better than that, right, I
mean no, No, I want to be honest. I want
to be transparent. But I'm never going to be ripping
on any coach because again, I know what they're going through,
and so, you know, bringing a coach's perspective to this,
I think is is unique just because I do understand
what's you know, what's what they're going through a little bit.
(40:34):
So I'll probably have a little more compassion for my
coaching peers than other people would.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
Okay, last question for you.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
Since I mentioned Letterman, Bill Agean King, Wrigley Field, what's
one other standout moment from the what is it year
and a half or so, now that you've been out
of the game.
Speaker 3 (40:50):
One other standout moment would be probably going with Jason
Sideikas to the Hollywood Bowl. It was a Jimmy Buffett
tribute concert. Got to go with him and Beard and
Uh and my daughter Hannah who worked for me for
five years, So that was that was a highlight.
Speaker 1 (41:08):
I love that you know, part of the cast, Brendan
Hunt is a friend of mine, coach Beard, So I
love that you. I love that you got to go
with him and Ted Jason and go check it out.
Lot of a lot of good times ahead of you, Lisa,
I think in this nice little balance where you get
to say, I guess I'll work that day and then
I won't work these days, that sounds like a dream
to me.
Speaker 3 (41:28):
It is a blessing. It's a blessing. You've earned it.
Speaker 1 (41:31):
You've more than earned it. And thank you so much
for giving us sometime. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
Well, Sarah, thank you for what you've done for women's
athletics and and the what you know you're pushing the
equality and I'm just so proud of that that we
have young women that are stepping up and really talking
about how important this this game is for their development,
for women's development, and what we what we really deserve.
Speaker 1 (41:54):
We're going to clip off you calling me young, and
I'm going to replay that whenever I need it.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (42:02):
And I said, shit, sorry about that.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
Oh no, no, we say everything on this show the
only thing we believed. Okay, so you're good, Okay, all right, good,
Thanks again to Lisa for hanging out with us. We
got to take another break when we come back, bumble, But.
Speaker 2 (42:24):
Welcome back, slaicys.
Speaker 1 (42:25):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too, So here's our
good game play of the day. Check out Lisa Blueter
in action next Thursday, calling Iowa versus Drake aka the
two teams she spent thirty plus years coaching. That'll be
on the Big Ten Network. We'll remind you next week too.
Also check out the very cool illustrated look at the
WNBACBA negotiations and revenue share its posted by Underscore sports
(42:49):
Ball on Instagram. Kind of a new and different way
to see and understand a whole lot of the info
we've shared on the show very cool. We'll link to
it in our show notes, and we always love to
hear from you, so hit us up on email, good
game at wonder media dot com or leave us a
voicemail at eight seven to two two O four fifty seventy,
and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review. I tell
you every day slices because it's very important and helpful
(43:10):
to us, and it's super easy. Watch a bee with
a basketball for a butt? Rating ten out of ten,
no notes review. Now, if you remember my reaction to
last year's Unrivaled logo reveals, you'll know that I am
a big, big fan of this league's design team, particularly
the folks behind the first spooky sports logo. I'm aware
(43:30):
of Phantom BC. Why were we denied ghosts in our
logos for so long? So rad well, two new unrivaled
teams means two new logos. And while BREEZEBC is just okay,
you know palm trees have been done, the Hive BC
logo is chef's kiss. It's got a round cress with
honeycomb details on the sides, and then a bee in
(43:52):
the middle with a goddamn basketball for a butt.
Speaker 2 (43:55):
I'm obsessed.
Speaker 1 (43:57):
When we do our annual unrivaled pick your team exercise,
you better fucking believe that bumble butt is going to
factor into my decision.
Speaker 2 (44:04):
Now it's your turn, y'all.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
Rate and review, Thanks for listening, See you next week.
Good game, Lisa, Good game, bumble butt. A few men's
pro teams were being around so long they could get
away with dumb names like the Browns or the Red Sox.
Imagine being a social media admin unveiling one of those
kind of team names in the year twenty twenty five,
and don't get me started on the Predators.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
Yikes.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
But also, you know what, fuck you, Alex, because originally
putting Bearers as an example of a shitty team name,
that is my college team, my football team, and kind
of technically my baseball team too, So.
Speaker 2 (44:36):
You have thrice insulted me.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
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.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
Wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are.
Speaker 1 (44:52):
Alex Azie, Grace Lynch, Taylor Williamson, and Lucy Jones. Our
executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and
Emily rutter. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez and
Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from Avery LOFTUS and I'm Your
Host Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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