November 5, 2025 • 36 mins
Tamerra Griffin, women’s soccer writer and podcast host for The Athletic, joins Sarah to discuss all the NWSL Decision Day chaos, preview this weekend’s quarterfinal matchups, and unpack what it means for Racing Louisville to finally end its ninth-place curse. Plus, Sarah demands answers to tough questions, like which team’s color is the cutest.
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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 think
asking chat GPT for playing tactics should be considered doping WATA.
It's time step up. It's Wednesday, November fifth, and on
today's show, we're skipping the need to know and getting
straight to my conversation with Tamara Griffin, women's soccer writer
and podcast host for The Athletic. I caught up with
her on Monday to discuss all of the NWSL Decision
(00:21):
Day chaos, preview this weekend's quarterfinal matchups, and demand answers
to tough questions like which team's color is the cutest?
That conversation's coming up right after this, returning to the show.
She's the co host of Full Time with Meglenahan and
(00:42):
a full time women's soccer writer for The Athletic. She's
known not just for her soccer writing, but also her
coverage of the intersections of fashion, style, art and visual culture.
Her voice is so smooth she should do ASMR as
a side hustle. She's in the world to know the world.
It's Tamara Griffin.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Hi, Tamara, Hi, and thank you for it. An idea
of how I can start paying back my student loans
a little bit faster.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Yeah, read audio books.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yes, I need to hit up like the calm app.
Maybe I have some openings.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
I like that. Thank you for the free idea.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
It's interesting when you work in an audio medium like this,
where I'm literally talking to new people almost every single day,
how much I notice when someone's voice is just very
pleasing to me. Thankfully, I haven't really had anyone where
I'm like, wow, yikes, this person, I've got to talk
to the But I do have certain people, and you're
one of them that it doesn't really matter what you're saying.
I just very much enjoy listening to your voice. Oh,
(01:35):
thank you. I feel like yeah, yeah, yeah, Sidehouse a
lot of that for sure.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Yeah, off season plans, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Yeah, the voice sounds good. How's the body, specifically the
eyeballs after trying to take in all of the decision
day action at once.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
You know, I feel like there is a little bit
of PTSD to like the height of COVID when we
were in total lockdown and our entire social lives were
reduced mostly to zoom hangs outside of of our in
person pods because the strain on the retina Sarah is
so real and we were just talking about that plus
daylight saving plus like everything else that we have to
(02:11):
keep up with. The body is doing her best. Yeah,
but I definitely have like book a ninety minute deep
tiss massage on my to do list, not even at
the end of the season, like I'm gonna mean one,
maybe two between the championship. Yes, but we're doing our
best out here.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Yeah. It wasn't as exciting of a decision day as
it could have been because most of who was in
was already decided, but we did have one spot to decide,
and Racing Louisville the big winner on Sunday. They slid
into the postseason with their win over BFC and they
finally break the ninth place curse. So for those who
don't know, can you share why it's such a big
deal for Racing to I mean, slide into any spot
(02:53):
they ended up in the seventh spot, but to just
get to prepare for the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
So for the past four seasons leading up to this one,
Racing Level has somehow managed to finish their season in
ninth place every single year, which is impressive when you
consider the expansion factor, which means that even after we
got San Diego Wave, Angel City, the return of the
(03:17):
Utah Royals BFC. They still managed to finish in ninth place,
and last season this was especially devastating because it meant
that they were just outside of the playoff spot. And
I just think with the league as chaotic as the
NWSL is, with how many narratives we've seen with teams
like GOTHAMFC and their worst place to first place sort
(03:39):
of arc that ended with them being twenty twenty three
NWSL champions. We've seen this with Kansas City in previous seasons,
with all of the flip flopping that happens, it takes
a lot of something to remain that consistent. So for
them to finally break through that, I mean with all
of my journalistic objectivity, like I needed them to do
(03:59):
this thing, I needed them to do the thing and
the same thing they did it.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
I was like, no, no real horse of the race,
but I was happy for them, And to your point, yeah,
that kind of consistency. A team would prefer to be
first every year or second even, but ninth was disappointing
and so their first time making it to the postseason.
This team has been through a lot this year, including
head coach Baviannas sharing that she'd suffered another miscarriage. She
was open about it both times. She will become the
(04:25):
first person to play in and coach in NWSL playoffs,
that very cool pipeline that we don't see much of.
So what does this mean both for Beavianas but also
just for the league to see someone be able to
go from participating in the league as a player to
becoming a successful coach.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
I mean beginning with some of the personal challenges that
she has been very transparent about having faced, not just
the season but last season. As you said, I'm thinking
about what it means for her personally and her family.
My colleague, Meglenahan, reported on the miscarriage that she had
last year, and I actually reread that story after Racing
(05:01):
made it into the playoffs, and she talked even then
about how, yes, she was excited about being pregnant. She
was balancing you know, doctor's visits with still traveling with
the team so that she could coach them. And so
she is someone who has already demonstrated her dedication to
doing both being a parent, being a family person, and
being a coach. And so I think to be able
(05:23):
to have accomplished this feat even with everything that she's
gone through. I can only imagine how gratifying and healing
that must be, and then to have been in this
long term project with Racing Louisville, you know, pushing them through.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
I mean I can.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Like I said, it takes a lot to remain that
consistent and consistent obviously not in the ways that they wanted,
but it's got to be a proof of concept as well.
And I am also thinking to pan out even further
about what this means for the growth of the league,
where we're now seeing players who are retiring and occupying
these positions in front offices as general managers, as managers
(05:59):
of teams as Bev is, and to be able to
take them into the postseason. I've talked to so many
former players who are still involved in the league about
how much it means to them to be able to
still contribute to the game, just in different ways. And
so from a representational standpoint, I think this means a
lot for current players who might be wanting to fashion
careers after they retire. Similar to Bev's it's like ripple
(06:24):
effects of success, I think, an accomplishment and I can
only imagine, like I said, how healing this must be,
both for BEV and the whole team, because, like you said,
they've been through a lot.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah. Yeah, And this is a team that from the
beginning of the season people kind of had circled and said, huh,
there's a lot going on there that I think could
pay off. And what we saw across the course of
the season was very physical team, a lot of red cards.
Do you think that helps them at all in the postseason.
I'm not really sure if games tend to be called
tighter or looser in this league come playoff time.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Yeah, I mean officiating talking about consistency. The officiating in
this league, as we know, has been consistently chaotic, we'll say, unpredictable.
So I'm not even going to try to project what
that's going to be like, I think it honestly is
going to come down to the individual assignments for those
games and what they had to do the day before,
maybe what they might have to do after because the
(07:15):
refs be going through it. But I do think I mean,
I think it might have been on this very show
that I may have said something to the effect of,
like racing Louisville. Sometimes their physicality is giving a little
bit of like cry for help, but I do think
I mean, pulling a player's hair.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Is crying for help. But yeah, yeah, they're all to
cry for help.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
But I do think that they've become a bit more refined,
and I wonder if once they became aware of how
close they were, maybe how much closer they've ever been
for those who've been with the club for several seasons
to actually making it into the postseason, they just started
to button up a little bit, not to the point
where they've lost that identity as a gritty, super physical
(07:59):
high pressing because that's very much their style. And I
actually think the ways that they've harnessed that and sort
of come into games on the front foot, forcing other
teams to respond to their style rather than the other
way around, which is how I think it's been in
previous seasons, has been one of the keys to their success.
I do think that they are going to continue to
manage games. They're going to be playing the Washington Spirit,
(08:20):
which is not going to be a cakewalk, even though
it's not quite the Kansas City current as I think
a lot of people were expecting it. To me, so
I think that they're going to keep the I hope
actually that they keep the best parts of their sort
of physical gritty identity with the refinement and honestly like
conservative nature that you tend to get when you reach knockout.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Stage right right right. You mentioned it, so I'll bring
it up the Gotham decision to rest players. Ultimately, they
lost to the North Carolina Courage. They dropped into the
eighth seed, so they will face Kansas City in the
first round, with Racing actually getting up to seventh place
and being able to that buzz Saw in the first round,
(09:02):
So let's talk about it. Do you think that was
a bad move from a Gotham FC team.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Yeah, I mean, Gotham have had a really interesting season.
It's been a bit of a roller coaster. They've had
these patches of success that I personally thought they were
going to sort of end their regular season on, but
to drop points on the road to North Carolina, who
themselves were in a must win situation that unfortunately didn't
work out for them because Racing Louisville won. But I think, honestly,
(09:30):
more than that, more than the result of that game,
they just didn't look good. They looked listless, they looked tired, honestly,
and considering how many international players they had who are
just coming back from break, it's very understandable. I was
surprised to see how many minutes Rose level played given
how active she was with the US women's national team
literally a week ago. It was a tricky one and
(09:53):
I do rate Wan Carlos Amorros, the head coach of
Gotham FC. He knows what he's doing. He's won a
championship of for Gotham have been the eighth seed going
into a postseason, and it was the season that they
took on the championships.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
So I want to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
But the way that it looked was it doesn't give
you much to sort of hang your hat.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
On, right, And it's a Gotham team that at any
point when they take the field, I say, there's so
much talent, anything can happen. But having seen the way
they can look this year, you also think you don't
want to set yourself up to face Kansas City. Let's
talk about the courage. They did their part with a win,
but they still missed the cut because of that racing victory.
They set an attendance record in the loss, which was
(10:35):
sort of a good support for the idea of Decision Day.
You had nearly twelve thousand folks show up believing and
hoping that it would mean something. And we were gifted
a poem from interim coach Nathan Thuckery because he was,
you know, in the moment to step up and have
and have it mean something. How do you think North
Carolina should feel about this season? This is a team
that historically has been in the playoffs and has won
(10:56):
a few times.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
So you know, the first thing that I thought when
that game ended was, oh, what could have been? Because
as it feels like it was forever ago. But North
Carolina courage had a very abrupt firing of former head
coach Sean Nehus late summer, and there were a lot
of questions, a lot of concern about what may have happened.
(11:19):
They've been very tight lipped about that. Maybe we'll get
a little bit more on the off season. But when
Nathan Thackeray came in again, there were a lot of
questions and I personally was a bit surprised by how
fluidly he sort of I mean, he'd been with the team,
so there wasn't much of a transition in that sense,
but the team looked great. Let's not forget also, though,
(11:40):
that they lost Jayden Shaw right after that, so I
think there was not that much expectation about their ability
to bounce back the way that they did.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
And I am so big.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
On the Japanese forward attacking midfielder Manaka Matsukubo. She reached,
she shifted into a second gear, I think, and maybe
the final third of the season did if we didn't
have to worry about the force that is Timewa Shawinga.
She is at the top of my MVP list. I
think she is stellar and she's only twenty one. She
(12:12):
scores the most disgusting, devastating, humiliating goals that just I mean,
I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about the one that she scored.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
On Adam kettrup Berger and got them in the pouring rain.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Like.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
She's such an exciting player.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
No less than last year's goalkeeper of the year exactly.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
She just doesn't care. She does not care.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
She's so fun to watch and that's exciting for them
to look ahead to next season. You know you mentioned
Shawn Nee Hoss any more news or rumors out there
in the world about that, because I am frustrated on
two accounts. One, if there is a good reason for
the sudden firing and the sort of spiciness of the
way they did it, then I want to know, because
he shouldn't be out there in the world without us
understanding what the problem was in case he gets hired again.
(12:55):
And if there wasn't, then I'm angry on behalf of
Shawn Nee Hoss that they left us all one if
there was more to the story.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
And to even add a third to that. Well, to
first answer to your question, I don't have any further
information on that. I do think that we'll probably get
a little bit more in the off season. It makes
me wonder, given how well the team did after his departure,
that there may have been this desire to let the
team sort of go as far as they could without
having to deal with that factor. Maybe, but I know
(13:22):
you were on that press conference and it was it
was a mess.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
A mess multitude of factors. How many times you heard that.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
But my thing is now that we've seen how like
what the potential of this team is even without the
presence of Jaden Shaw. Part of me is like, and
I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but why didn't it
happen sooner?
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Right? And it might just be that it wasn't good
coaching and he wasn't getting the best out of them,
and that's fine, But then also it felt very disrespectful
to say goodbye to him in the way that they
did without an explanation, because it did leave us in
a league like this wondering what more there was.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
To be said, especially give the things that have happened
with that team within that club in the past, that
team in particular. Yeah, it was not handled well, separate
of course from the team's performances, but it was such
a weird moment. But I do hope that we get
some more information out of that, because in some ways
that will help us sort of set our expectations for
(14:18):
what this team is going to do in future seasons.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Did you have a third aspect of the angry on
behalf of that you wanted to add?
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Oh, it was mostly that they should have parted ways
with him sooner if the reason was performance based, because
I think Nate Thackeray has actually done a really good
job sort of to my own surprise and my like
the bittersweet heartbreak. Like if I had to choose between
Racing Louisville and North Carolina Courage for this season, my
heart is with Racing, but I would not have been
(14:48):
upset to continue watching North Carolina in the postseason, mostly
for Monoca. I'm not gonna lie, but my frustration is
why didn't this happen sooner? And what could this team
have accomplished if it had.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Let's talk about the Washington Spirit, another team that, like Gotham,
adjusted for the final week of play. They traveled a
very small roster to Utah. They took the l didn't matter,
didn't affect their seating. They're still the number two seat.
They still get a home advantage. Do you care about
a team laying off the gas at the end like that?
Do you think it sets them up for any more
or less success come postseason?
Speaker 2 (15:21):
I'm kind of here for it. It was really interesting
to see between Kansas City Current Washington Spirit how differently
the teams approached this last game. I was thinking about
Kansas City Current. They're playing at home. There is no
way that when they have gone a full season unbeaten
at home, that they are going to do what Washington
Spirit did on the road with Utah, Like there's just
(15:43):
no way they got to protect the house Washington. I'm
reminded of last year's championship that team flew in like
on the day of media Day. They something changes when
they approach the postseason, when they're in the postseason where
they really start to think about what it means to
reserve energy. They have a team full of international players
(16:04):
who again are coming back from international duty, most of
them in Europe or in Africa, and I'm thinking about
what it means to make that flight and then another
cross country one to high altitude Utah like that is
a huge strain on the body, possibility of injuries, which
we saw a little bit of a cross decision day.
I think it was a smart decision. At the end
(16:24):
of the day, You're giving minutes to some players that
you may need in the postseason where depth is paramount.
And it seems that Washington is in a comfortable enough
place and honestly, in my opinion, still with the high
enough ceiling as they head into the postseason, even though
they might have to do it without Trinity Rodman, that
they were able to take that risk and I respect
when teams make gambles like that, so I wasn't too
(16:47):
bothered by it.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Well, and it wasn't really a gamble so much for
them because their decision day involved nothing being decided, So
the only decision they had was do we try our
hardest ronat whereas you look at Gotam where there were
things to be decided, it didn't work out for them
to may hold back a little, Kansas City didn't have
anything to play for either. They won anyway, and they
did it without Tamoshewinga. Does that give them extra confidence
for the postseason if she's not able to go? And
(17:09):
is it even possible to have more confidence than Casey
should already have after a regular season like this one?
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Honestly, yes, This to me might have been the most
important win that Kansas City Current have had this season,
because Wow, they did it without Tamla. And I think
back to the last game that they played before the
international break where Temwa picked up that hip apductor injury
against the Houston Dash to whom they lost away, and
in that game they had to figure out in real
(17:37):
time how to play without her. Flatco and Anofsky head
coach of the Kansas City Current had said leading up
to that game that as they approached the postseason, the
one thing that he wanted the team to be able
to learn was.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
How to bounce back. Now.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
He obviously wasn't thinking about bouncing back without their best
player and likely MVP of the season. But I am
someone who is so pro like, let's get bring all
the adversity now when the stakes are relatively low, so
that when they're high, we have the muscle memory. And
to me, that game against the San Diego Wave, who
(18:10):
came out strong, they scored first, Kansas City conceded a
goal at home early in the game, and I'm just thinking,
what better scenario to work through for your last regular
season game. I mean, it called on players like Debina
who had that gorgeous again goosebumps inducing free kick that
sent them ahead. I mean Nachelle Prince coming off the
(18:30):
bench scoring the game winner, sorry that was the game winner.
Those are huge moments that I think when you get
into the postseason and the margins actually turn out to
be huge for individual players, I think that's a huge
restoration of confidence, I think collectively, to know that you're
capable of still being successful on the field even when
(18:51):
you don't have your talisman is huge. So to me,
recency bias, Yes, most important game for them for sure.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Yeah. I mentioned now this show so that I thought
Nachelle print scoring was huge for them because they were
figuring out who do we have and what can they
do even if we don't have TEMWL. But I think
your point about falling behind and coming back is yet
another element of adversity for them to say we know
how to do this in a way they haven't had
to do much this.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Year, right, They've been points too.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
It's like, even if they dropped a game before now,
like you said, it wouldn't have really mattered, but this
one mattered a little bit more and I think it
was important for them to work through that.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Okay, we're going to talk about the current and other
teams in the postseason, but before we talk about the
playoff matchups, a quick moment for the teams that didn't advance.
North Carolina, Houston, Angel City, Utah, BFC Chicago. Do any
of those teams inspire enthusiasm or optimism about next season
as opposed to considering the off season a time to
reboot and rethink what didn't work.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Out of those, I'm probably most excited from a sporting
side about Utah. Yeah, they had a similarly sort of
high end to last season that unfortunately they were not
able to sort of carry into the start of this season.
They had so many injuries you couldn't even really get
a sense of who the team was until they started
getting players back. But then they did and they started clicking,
(20:15):
and I think they play some of the most beautiful football,
certainly from like the bottom half of the table, but
I would say like top three is most aesthetically pleasing
teams when they're when they're like on it. They didn't
even make that many adjustments to their roster. They brought
in one player I'm blanking on her name, Prasnakar, I'm
blanking on her first name, who's sort of still been
(20:37):
working her way into the squad building minutes. But I
think that all of these players are super bought in,
and it makes sense because I imagine Utah is not
the easiest sell when you're trying to recruit international players
or those who you know want to be on the coasts.
So if a player arrives, they're they're there to get
to work. And I think that that's been showing. So
my hope for Utah is that they're able to just
(21:00):
keep it going into the start of next season.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yeah. I have to admit, when Ali Sednor got traded
and the team was struggling so much, I thought, what's
the plan here? This is your future and you're not
playing for right now. I'm still a little bit unsure
of whether that was a force out situation, that Ali's
not publicly telling us that she was demanding out, but
(21:23):
I think it was really incredible to see how the
team after that trade got much better. Maybe it was
a fit issue, Maybe it was a you know, too
much focus on one player that everyone's playing around instead
of with. I don't know, but I was really surprised
to see how they played after that moment.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
I think so too, And I wonder if it's a
matter of playing styles. Some styles are better suited to
be built around a player, and Jimmy Conrat's the head
coach of Utah, I think that he is more about
an even distribution of responsibility would sort of be my guest,
and so it might have been a style mismatch or
a misfit of style, but Alie sent Nor such an
(22:02):
interesting story because she's now with the Kansas City Current,
who are stacked, have a super deep bench, and it
feels like this is was not going to be the
season that she was going to immediately come over and
be starting every game, playing full nineties. She's definitely gonna
be a long term project for that team, but she's
in the postseason in Utah is.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
And she might learn a lot in that position for
as young as she is, totally and playing under black
co and alongside players like lo La Banta Right right,
we got to take a quick break more with Tamara
Griffin right after this for those teams that didn't advance
(22:45):
any storyline to will be watching this off season for
those squads, positive, negative or otherwise.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
You know, I'm a Nora Cal girl, so BFC is
close to my heart, my head, my pen like I'm
keeping a very close eye on them. This has been
I think even calling it a sophomore slump at this
point is probably being a little bit too nice. A
lot of questions within that team the coaching fit did
(23:10):
not end up working out, which was even more disappointing
given that they actually made it into the postseason and
their expansion year last year, so there were high expectations there.
I've been to a bunch of the games. The body
language of the players sort of reflects where they're at
right now. They're definitely transitioning. I'm very curious to see
what the CEO of the Bay collective that sort of
(23:32):
oversees BFC as a club and will eventually be a
multi club model. It's headed up by Kay Cosington, who
spent twenty years with the English Football Association so knows
her shit and I just am expecting her to sort
of be tapping into her past experiences and to sort
of bring that over to Bay. But changes need to
(23:52):
be made, and I would be surprised if they haven't
already been made and just haven't fully been announced yet.
But some healing needs to happen. To borrow words from
the Red Table talk with BFC, and I'm ready for it.
I know the fans are ready for it. They've got
the foundation to build a long term, successful club. But
there's been a mismatch, which you know we've seen with
(24:12):
clubs like Angel City, who I'm also very curious about.
They had a lot of departures this year and for them,
I'm sort of looking for a fresh start because they've
brought in a lot of young players with high ceilings
that play exciting football. Alex Strauss came in mid season,
you know, twenty twenty six will be his first to
you know, start from the beginning and actually recruit players
(24:34):
in earnest. So those are teams that I'm going to
be keeping my eye on. I'm also excited to see
what Chicago's able to do now that they're going to
be playing closer to Chicago. That one game against Orlando Pride,
which was crazy, now that I think about it, I
think is the beginning of something that can be really
special for that So I'm feeling optimistic honestly about the
(24:55):
bottom table teams as.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Long as that a whole listen they or kristen us
embrace and the Chicago neutral colored stars wearing alissen Air
shirts doesn't mean that we've seen the end of Alyssenair.
I know it's her time to decide she's given us
more than enough, but I want to see her go out.
I know they won, but I still want to see
her go out and style a little bit more with
a team that does something more to play for she deserves. Okay,
(25:18):
regular season wrapped quick look ahead to the playoff matchups.
I don't need a full breakdown, but just your first
thought on each of them. Kansas City got them.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
It depends on which Gotham shows up. To be completely
honest with you, Kansas City have in the past two games,
even though they beat the San Diego Wave, they are
probably more vulnerable than they've been all seasons. So they
can they're the most beatable that they've been. But it's
going to depend on which Gotham side shows up. Honestly,
if it's the one that played North Carolina courage.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
That might be the end of their season.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Washington Louisville, we of course don't know Trinity Rodman's status.
It doesn't feel like something that she'll be able to
pop into in this opening round. Though we don't know
first reaction to that one.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Washington is still the stronger team. I think that they
have what it takes to go a full ninety and
to be dominant for a full ninety racing. Louisville have
so much to play for. They've already accomplished something that
has never been done for their club, and I think
there can be a added courage and freedom that comes
with that. But I think playing in DC, playing at
(26:26):
rowdy Audi, especially in the postseason, we saw how that
went last year, and I think, if nothing else, that's
going to be the margin that gives Washington.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
The edge Portland San Diego. This is an interesting one.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
Honestly, the most the highest quotient for drama, I think
because both teams have been very inconsistent all respect to Portland,
but the fact that they ended the regular season as
a number three seed, my brain is not like four
or four error in with that. They've been dealing with
a lot of injuries, even against the Use and Dash.
(27:00):
There were some last minute withdrawals from the availability list,
but again they're playing at Providence Park and that's their
favorite place to be. San Diego, on the other hand,
have been on a bit of an upward swing. They
have a nineteen year old superstar, Jugenia, who arrived maybe
a month ago and made immediate impact. I'm really excited
(27:23):
to see her play.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
This is a wild thing about football, by the way.
It's just wild how often it's just this season, someone
will just show up, whether it's a coach or a player,
like teams can look so different at the end of
the season at the beginning.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Mm hmm, Yeah, that one's really hard to say. I
low key hope that one goes into extra time and
maybe penalties. I think that's gonna be the tightest one.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Okay, let's talk Orlando, Seattle, the Pride and the Rain
just played to a one to one draw in that
last game. On decision Day. They'll run it back in
the first round. Does either team enter with more confidence
because of that draw?
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Probably?
Speaker 2 (28:01):
I mean Orlando, what a season they've had. They've been
through a lot. They're gonna be again. Of course, without
Roberta Banda. They have had to learn, and I do
think that this is a somewhat of a benefit to
them relative to other teams like Kansas City, who are
very recently without Tamashuwinga. Orlando have had to learn for
the past several games now how to play without Banda,
(28:22):
and it looks like the pieces are starting to come together.
They're not scoring as much as they did in Seattle.
Loves a mid block. They love to sit back and
just let you hammered at them because they can handle it.
They got Claudia Dicky in the back, Jordan Bug who's
been phenomenal this season, her rookie season. This game, I
(28:43):
think is sort of like the inverse of what I'm
expecting from Portland San Diego, where I think it's going
to be a lot of sitting back, almost like playing
chicken with each other, And I think it's gonna probably
be one of those games that comes down to a
moment of individual brilliance that when I look at the rosters,
I feel inclined to see that that brilliance is going
to come from Orlando. They also benefit from not having
(29:04):
to travel playing at home. Seattle is going to stay
in Orlando just the whole week.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Laura Harvey mentioned in the postgame interview that they're not moving,
which is an interesting choice that I think we'll be
able to glean a lot from based on how that
game goes. But I think slight tilt toward Orlando for me.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Yeah, And I think you might be hinting at it.
There's other players too, But I just feel like we've
seen enough from Marta in the last couple of years,
these moments when she is most needed and somehow she's
still doing it that you can see if it comes
down to one person and they're brilliance, it very much
could be her. You mentioned Laura Harvey. She made some
headlines for admitting to using chat GPT to make some
(29:41):
game plans earlier in the season. Big deal or no deal.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
I mean, it's one of those things where if that
news had just stayed within the community either of like
women's soccer or even we can expand it to women's sports,
it's like, Okay, we're all adults here.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
This is weird and and it gives I'm.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
A little bit concerned about where the game might be headed,
but we can get through this. But because it went viral,
it's sort of like, Okay, now other people are aware.
People might not even know who Laura Harvey is, and
now there's like no context about how.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
Long she's been with the league.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
You know.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
It was one of those kind of things like company
is over.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
You know, right, That's what I was going to say.
It's like it's Laura Harvey, so everyone end up her
sells like that's kind of crazy, but whatever, it's probably
just like bored at this point. They outside my brain,
which already knows everything. Meanwhile, you get it out into
the world and it's kind of like the old like no,
we could say that about our family and friends. You
can't say that shit about our family and exact people
(30:41):
you don't know women's sports or Laura Harvey start talking shit.
You're like, no, no, no, it's not a big thing. Exactly.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
That's exactly how I feel about it. And I sat
in on Seattle's postgame interview and Phoebe mcclarenan center back,
was asked about it, and she was sort of like,
it's a tool, and I think someone would be remiss
to not use tools available to them.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
It sounds like the like within.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
The camp they're kind of moved past it, and I mean,
it makes sense it's time to get into postseason mode.
But yeah, it was one of those sort of like
paradoxes of like, this is weird, and also, please let's
not make it a big thing before other people start looking.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Yeah, it's like a big deal and no deal at
the same time. Exactly. Okay, speed round. I'm gonna make
you make some predictions. Okay, which of the first round
matchups most likely to see an upset.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
San Diego Portland?
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Okay, Which team in the bottom half of the bracket
has the best shot to win it all? Gotham, yesn't
that wild. Yeah, just the highs and the lows as
chance the rapper has and the lows on which team
not named the Kansas City Current of any place in
the bracket has the best shot to win it all.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
Washington Spirit Okay, okay, easy peasy.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
Last question. We play a little game called good, good
or Goodest. It's like bench start cut, but you don't
have to cut anything. Something is just I love these roles.
Something is gooder and something is goodest. Okay, So starting
with good label these three things racing Louisville Lavender, Kansas
City Current, Teal, Angel City Soul Rosa, Pink.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Soul Rosa Pink, Good Lavender, Gooder, Teal, Goodest.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Yeah, tough one.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
That's a tough one. The only reason I love the
Soul Rosa pink is because for such a long time
we just stayed away from pink because of the stereotypical associations.
And I love how we're just kind of like get
taking it back. When I feel that way about Valkyrie
violet and Louisville lavender and all these colors that are
sort of quote unquote girly, they're actually really badass and
they look amazing on a field. Or a pitch or
(32:46):
a court, and we're finally getting back to it, which
I love and I love talking to you, Tamara. Always
so great to get the insight on all things footy
from you. So thanks for coming on, especially on a
very busy post decision day day.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
I'm wishing you all of the deep tissue massages, ginger shots,
hydration calming things, because we're gonna thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
Probably at this point we're just in a full maintenance
phase for the rest of our lives. It's not even
ahead of big, big events or after big events. It's
true maintenance is required. And my apologies to Alex and
anyone editing for this. How many times my stomach grumbled
because that was audible to me the entire show, and
that also might be a hint to me for a
little better maintenance of myself and not waiting till four pm.
(33:30):
T Thanks again to Tamarra for taking the time. We
got to take another quick break when we come back.
You've got a friend in me. Welcome back, slices. We
love that you're listening, but we want you to get
in the game every day too. So here's our good
(33:50):
game play of the day. Follow Tamara on social media
and check out her recent stories for The Athletic. And
if you're not already listening to full time what you're doing,
we'll link to all of that in the show notes.
And we always love to hear from you, so hit
us up on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com
or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two
four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe rate and
(34:13):
review slices. Just scroll down, give us five stars and
say what you love about us. It's really easy. Watch
Kansas City current player Kristin Hamilton's former teammates surprising her
for her retirement game, rating three out of three best
friends that anyone could have review. Kansas City's Kristin Hamilton
is retiring at the end of the season, and while
(34:34):
a hip injury has kept her sidelined recently, she's still
got a very wholesome sendoff celebration as part of Kansas
City's last regular season game. Ahead of the match, Hamilton
was surprised by former longtime teammates Sam Ewis, now retired,
and Lynn Biandolo on maternity lea from the Seattle Rain
this trio has been together for a long time. First
(34:54):
as members of the Western New York Flash, they helped
that club win the NWSL title back in twenty sixteen.
Then they made the move to North Carolina when the
Flash was acquired and rebranded as the Courage in twenty seventeen,
winning back to back championships there in twenty eighteen and
twenty nineteen, and then all three also ended up making
the move to Kansas City via trades in twenty twenty
(35:15):
one and twenty twenty two. Needless to say, Hamilton, Mewis
and Biandolo have won a lot together and they've been
through a lot together, so it was really fun seeing
their reunion for Hamilton's final game. We'll link to the
video of that moment in the show notes. Now it's
your turn, rate and review, y'all. Thanks for listening, See
you tomorrow. Good game, Tamarra, good game, Sam, and Lynn
(35:36):
for showing up for a long time NWSL badass. You
outside people talking shit about women in sports, only we
get to talk shit about women in sports. Good Game
with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in
partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find
us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you
(35:57):
get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network. Our producers
are alex Azzie, Grace Lynch, Taylor Williamson, and Lucy Jones.
Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan
and Emily Rutterer. Our editors are Emily Rudder, 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 think
asking chat GPT for playing tactics should be considered doping WATA.
It's time step up. It's Wednesday, November fifth, and on
today's show, we're skipping the need to know and getting
straight to my conversation with Tamara Griffin, women's soccer writer
and podcast host for The Athletic. I caught up with
her on Monday to discuss all of the NWSL Decision
(00:21):
Day chaos, preview this weekend's quarterfinal matchups, and demand answers
to tough questions like which team's color is the cutest?
That conversation's coming up right after this, returning to the show.
She's the co host of Full Time with Meglenahan and
(00:42):
a full time women's soccer writer for The Athletic. She's
known not just for her soccer writing, but also her
coverage of the intersections of fashion, style, art and visual culture.
Her voice is so smooth she should do ASMR as
a side hustle. She's in the world to know the world.
It's Tamara Griffin.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Hi, Tamara, Hi, and thank you for it. An idea
of how I can start paying back my student loans
a little bit faster.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Yeah, read audio books.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yes, I need to hit up like the calm app.
Maybe I have some openings.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
I like that. Thank you for the free idea.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
It's interesting when you work in an audio medium like this,
where I'm literally talking to new people almost every single day,
how much I notice when someone's voice is just very
pleasing to me. Thankfully, I haven't really had anyone where
I'm like, wow, yikes, this person, I've got to talk
to the But I do have certain people, and you're
one of them that it doesn't really matter what you're saying.
I just very much enjoy listening to your voice. Oh,
(01:35):
thank you. I feel like yeah, yeah, yeah, Sidehouse a
lot of that for sure.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Yeah, off season plans, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Yeah, the voice sounds good. How's the body, specifically the
eyeballs after trying to take in all of the decision
day action at once.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
You know, I feel like there is a little bit
of PTSD to like the height of COVID when we
were in total lockdown and our entire social lives were
reduced mostly to zoom hangs outside of of our in
person pods because the strain on the retina Sarah is
so real and we were just talking about that plus
daylight saving plus like everything else that we have to
(02:11):
keep up with. The body is doing her best. Yeah,
but I definitely have like book a ninety minute deep
tiss massage on my to do list, not even at
the end of the season, like I'm gonna mean one,
maybe two between the championship. Yes, but we're doing our
best out here.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Yeah. It wasn't as exciting of a decision day as
it could have been because most of who was in
was already decided, but we did have one spot to decide,
and Racing Louisville the big winner on Sunday. They slid
into the postseason with their win over BFC and they
finally break the ninth place curse. So for those who
don't know, can you share why it's such a big
deal for Racing to I mean, slide into any spot
(02:53):
they ended up in the seventh spot, but to just
get to prepare for the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
So for the past four seasons leading up to this one,
Racing Level has somehow managed to finish their season in
ninth place every single year, which is impressive when you
consider the expansion factor, which means that even after we
got San Diego Wave, Angel City, the return of the
(03:17):
Utah Royals BFC. They still managed to finish in ninth place,
and last season this was especially devastating because it meant
that they were just outside of the playoff spot. And
I just think with the league as chaotic as the
NWSL is, with how many narratives we've seen with teams
like GOTHAMFC and their worst place to first place sort
(03:39):
of arc that ended with them being twenty twenty three
NWSL champions. We've seen this with Kansas City in previous seasons,
with all of the flip flopping that happens, it takes
a lot of something to remain that consistent. So for
them to finally break through that, I mean with all
of my journalistic objectivity, like I needed them to do
(03:59):
this thing, I needed them to do the thing and
the same thing they did it.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
I was like, no, no real horse of the race,
but I was happy for them, And to your point, yeah,
that kind of consistency. A team would prefer to be
first every year or second even, but ninth was disappointing
and so their first time making it to the postseason.
This team has been through a lot this year, including
head coach Baviannas sharing that she'd suffered another miscarriage. She
was open about it both times. She will become the
(04:25):
first person to play in and coach in NWSL playoffs,
that very cool pipeline that we don't see much of.
So what does this mean both for Beavianas but also
just for the league to see someone be able to
go from participating in the league as a player to
becoming a successful coach.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
I mean beginning with some of the personal challenges that
she has been very transparent about having faced, not just
the season but last season. As you said, I'm thinking
about what it means for her personally and her family.
My colleague, Meglenahan, reported on the miscarriage that she had
last year, and I actually reread that story after Racing
(05:01):
made it into the playoffs, and she talked even then
about how, yes, she was excited about being pregnant. She
was balancing you know, doctor's visits with still traveling with
the team so that she could coach them. And so
she is someone who has already demonstrated her dedication to
doing both being a parent, being a family person, and
being a coach. And so I think to be able
(05:23):
to have accomplished this feat even with everything that she's
gone through. I can only imagine how gratifying and healing
that must be, and then to have been in this
long term project with Racing Louisville, you know, pushing them through.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
I mean I can.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Like I said, it takes a lot to remain that
consistent and consistent obviously not in the ways that they wanted,
but it's got to be a proof of concept as well.
And I am also thinking to pan out even further
about what this means for the growth of the league,
where we're now seeing players who are retiring and occupying
these positions in front offices as general managers, as managers
(05:59):
of teams as Bev is, and to be able to
take them into the postseason. I've talked to so many
former players who are still involved in the league about
how much it means to them to be able to
still contribute to the game, just in different ways. And
so from a representational standpoint, I think this means a
lot for current players who might be wanting to fashion
careers after they retire. Similar to Bev's it's like ripple
(06:24):
effects of success, I think, an accomplishment and I can
only imagine, like I said, how healing this must be,
both for BEV and the whole team, because, like you said,
they've been through a lot.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah. Yeah, And this is a team that from the
beginning of the season people kind of had circled and said, huh,
there's a lot going on there that I think could
pay off. And what we saw across the course of
the season was very physical team, a lot of red cards.
Do you think that helps them at all in the postseason.
I'm not really sure if games tend to be called
tighter or looser in this league come playoff time.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Yeah, I mean officiating talking about consistency. The officiating in
this league, as we know, has been consistently chaotic, we'll say, unpredictable.
So I'm not even going to try to project what
that's going to be like, I think it honestly is
going to come down to the individual assignments for those
games and what they had to do the day before,
maybe what they might have to do after because the
(07:15):
refs be going through it. But I do think I mean,
I think it might have been on this very show
that I may have said something to the effect of,
like racing Louisville. Sometimes their physicality is giving a little
bit of like cry for help, but I do think
I mean, pulling a player's hair.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Is crying for help. But yeah, yeah, they're all to
cry for help.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
But I do think that they've become a bit more refined,
and I wonder if once they became aware of how
close they were, maybe how much closer they've ever been
for those who've been with the club for several seasons
to actually making it into the postseason, they just started
to button up a little bit, not to the point
where they've lost that identity as a gritty, super physical
(07:59):
high pressing because that's very much their style. And I
actually think the ways that they've harnessed that and sort
of come into games on the front foot, forcing other
teams to respond to their style rather than the other
way around, which is how I think it's been in
previous seasons, has been one of the keys to their success.
I do think that they are going to continue to
manage games. They're going to be playing the Washington Spirit,
(08:20):
which is not going to be a cakewalk, even though
it's not quite the Kansas City current as I think
a lot of people were expecting it. To me, so
I think that they're going to keep the I hope
actually that they keep the best parts of their sort
of physical gritty identity with the refinement and honestly like
conservative nature that you tend to get when you reach knockout.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Stage right right right. You mentioned it, so I'll bring
it up the Gotham decision to rest players. Ultimately, they
lost to the North Carolina Courage. They dropped into the
eighth seed, so they will face Kansas City in the
first round, with Racing actually getting up to seventh place
and being able to that buzz Saw in the first round,
(09:02):
So let's talk about it. Do you think that was
a bad move from a Gotham FC team.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Yeah, I mean, Gotham have had a really interesting season.
It's been a bit of a roller coaster. They've had
these patches of success that I personally thought they were
going to sort of end their regular season on, but
to drop points on the road to North Carolina, who
themselves were in a must win situation that unfortunately didn't
work out for them because Racing Louisville won. But I think, honestly,
(09:30):
more than that, more than the result of that game,
they just didn't look good. They looked listless, they looked tired, honestly,
and considering how many international players they had who are
just coming back from break, it's very understandable. I was
surprised to see how many minutes Rose level played given
how active she was with the US women's national team
literally a week ago. It was a tricky one and
(09:53):
I do rate Wan Carlos Amorros, the head coach of
Gotham FC. He knows what he's doing. He's won a
championship of for Gotham have been the eighth seed going
into a postseason, and it was the season that they
took on the championships.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
So I want to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
But the way that it looked was it doesn't give
you much to sort of hang your hat.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
On, right, And it's a Gotham team that at any
point when they take the field, I say, there's so
much talent, anything can happen. But having seen the way
they can look this year, you also think you don't
want to set yourself up to face Kansas City. Let's
talk about the courage. They did their part with a win,
but they still missed the cut because of that racing victory.
They set an attendance record in the loss, which was
(10:35):
sort of a good support for the idea of Decision Day.
You had nearly twelve thousand folks show up believing and
hoping that it would mean something. And we were gifted
a poem from interim coach Nathan Thuckery because he was,
you know, in the moment to step up and have
and have it mean something. How do you think North
Carolina should feel about this season? This is a team
that historically has been in the playoffs and has won
(10:56):
a few times.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
So you know, the first thing that I thought when
that game ended was, oh, what could have been? Because
as it feels like it was forever ago. But North
Carolina courage had a very abrupt firing of former head
coach Sean Nehus late summer, and there were a lot
of questions, a lot of concern about what may have happened.
(11:19):
They've been very tight lipped about that. Maybe we'll get
a little bit more on the off season. But when
Nathan Thackeray came in again, there were a lot of
questions and I personally was a bit surprised by how
fluidly he sort of I mean, he'd been with the team,
so there wasn't much of a transition in that sense,
but the team looked great. Let's not forget also, though,
(11:40):
that they lost Jayden Shaw right after that, so I
think there was not that much expectation about their ability
to bounce back the way that they did.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
And I am so big.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
On the Japanese forward attacking midfielder Manaka Matsukubo. She reached,
she shifted into a second gear, I think, and maybe
the final third of the season did if we didn't
have to worry about the force that is Timewa Shawinga.
She is at the top of my MVP list. I
think she is stellar and she's only twenty one. She
(12:12):
scores the most disgusting, devastating, humiliating goals that just I mean,
I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about the one that she scored.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
On Adam kettrup Berger and got them in the pouring rain.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Like.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
She's such an exciting player.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
No less than last year's goalkeeper of the year exactly.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
She just doesn't care. She does not care.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
She's so fun to watch and that's exciting for them
to look ahead to next season. You know you mentioned
Shawn Nee Hoss any more news or rumors out there
in the world about that, because I am frustrated on
two accounts. One, if there is a good reason for
the sudden firing and the sort of spiciness of the
way they did it, then I want to know, because
he shouldn't be out there in the world without us
understanding what the problem was in case he gets hired again.
(12:55):
And if there wasn't, then I'm angry on behalf of
Shawn Nee Hoss that they left us all one if
there was more to the story.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
And to even add a third to that. Well, to
first answer to your question, I don't have any further
information on that. I do think that we'll probably get
a little bit more in the off season. It makes
me wonder, given how well the team did after his departure,
that there may have been this desire to let the
team sort of go as far as they could without
having to deal with that factor. Maybe, but I know
(13:22):
you were on that press conference and it was it
was a mess.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
A mess multitude of factors. How many times you heard that.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
But my thing is now that we've seen how like
what the potential of this team is even without the
presence of Jaden Shaw. Part of me is like, and
I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but why didn't it
happen sooner?
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Right? And it might just be that it wasn't good
coaching and he wasn't getting the best out of them,
and that's fine, But then also it felt very disrespectful
to say goodbye to him in the way that they
did without an explanation, because it did leave us in
a league like this wondering what more there was.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
To be said, especially give the things that have happened
with that team within that club in the past, that
team in particular. Yeah, it was not handled well, separate
of course from the team's performances, but it was such
a weird moment. But I do hope that we get
some more information out of that, because in some ways
that will help us sort of set our expectations for
(14:18):
what this team is going to do in future seasons.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Did you have a third aspect of the angry on
behalf of that you wanted to add?
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Oh, it was mostly that they should have parted ways
with him sooner if the reason was performance based, because
I think Nate Thackeray has actually done a really good
job sort of to my own surprise and my like
the bittersweet heartbreak. Like if I had to choose between
Racing Louisville and North Carolina Courage for this season, my
heart is with Racing, but I would not have been
(14:48):
upset to continue watching North Carolina in the postseason, mostly
for Monoca. I'm not gonna lie, but my frustration is
why didn't this happen sooner? And what could this team
have accomplished if it had.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Let's talk about the Washington Spirit, another team that, like Gotham,
adjusted for the final week of play. They traveled a
very small roster to Utah. They took the l didn't matter,
didn't affect their seating. They're still the number two seat.
They still get a home advantage. Do you care about
a team laying off the gas at the end like that?
Do you think it sets them up for any more
or less success come postseason?
Speaker 2 (15:21):
I'm kind of here for it. It was really interesting
to see between Kansas City Current Washington Spirit how differently
the teams approached this last game. I was thinking about
Kansas City Current. They're playing at home. There is no
way that when they have gone a full season unbeaten
at home, that they are going to do what Washington
Spirit did on the road with Utah, Like there's just
(15:43):
no way they got to protect the house Washington. I'm
reminded of last year's championship that team flew in like
on the day of media Day. They something changes when
they approach the postseason, when they're in the postseason where
they really start to think about what it means to
reserve energy. They have a team full of international players
(16:04):
who again are coming back from international duty, most of
them in Europe or in Africa, and I'm thinking about
what it means to make that flight and then another
cross country one to high altitude Utah like that is
a huge strain on the body, possibility of injuries, which
we saw a little bit of a cross decision day.
I think it was a smart decision. At the end
(16:24):
of the day, You're giving minutes to some players that
you may need in the postseason where depth is paramount.
And it seems that Washington is in a comfortable enough
place and honestly, in my opinion, still with the high
enough ceiling as they head into the postseason, even though
they might have to do it without Trinity Rodman, that
they were able to take that risk and I respect
when teams make gambles like that, so I wasn't too
(16:47):
bothered by it.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Well, and it wasn't really a gamble so much for
them because their decision day involved nothing being decided, So
the only decision they had was do we try our
hardest ronat whereas you look at Gotam where there were
things to be decided, it didn't work out for them
to may hold back a little, Kansas City didn't have
anything to play for either. They won anyway, and they
did it without Tamoshewinga. Does that give them extra confidence
for the postseason if she's not able to go? And
(17:09):
is it even possible to have more confidence than Casey
should already have after a regular season like this one?
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Honestly, yes, This to me might have been the most
important win that Kansas City Current have had this season,
because Wow, they did it without Tamla. And I think
back to the last game that they played before the
international break where Temwa picked up that hip apductor injury
against the Houston Dash to whom they lost away, and
in that game they had to figure out in real
(17:37):
time how to play without her. Flatco and Anofsky head
coach of the Kansas City Current had said leading up
to that game that as they approached the postseason, the
one thing that he wanted the team to be able
to learn was.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
How to bounce back. Now.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
He obviously wasn't thinking about bouncing back without their best
player and likely MVP of the season. But I am
someone who is so pro like, let's get bring all
the adversity now when the stakes are relatively low, so
that when they're high, we have the muscle memory. And
to me, that game against the San Diego Wave, who
(18:10):
came out strong, they scored first, Kansas City conceded a
goal at home early in the game, and I'm just thinking,
what better scenario to work through for your last regular
season game. I mean, it called on players like Debina
who had that gorgeous again goosebumps inducing free kick that
sent them ahead. I mean Nachelle Prince coming off the
(18:30):
bench scoring the game winner, sorry that was the game winner.
Those are huge moments that I think when you get
into the postseason and the margins actually turn out to
be huge for individual players, I think that's a huge
restoration of confidence, I think collectively, to know that you're
capable of still being successful on the field even when
(18:51):
you don't have your talisman is huge. So to me,
recency bias, Yes, most important game for them for sure.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Yeah. I mentioned now this show so that I thought
Nachelle print scoring was huge for them because they were
figuring out who do we have and what can they
do even if we don't have TEMWL. But I think
your point about falling behind and coming back is yet
another element of adversity for them to say we know
how to do this in a way they haven't had
to do much this.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Year, right, They've been points too.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
It's like, even if they dropped a game before now,
like you said, it wouldn't have really mattered, but this
one mattered a little bit more and I think it
was important for them to work through that.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Okay, we're going to talk about the current and other
teams in the postseason, but before we talk about the
playoff matchups, a quick moment for the teams that didn't advance.
North Carolina, Houston, Angel City, Utah, BFC Chicago. Do any
of those teams inspire enthusiasm or optimism about next season
as opposed to considering the off season a time to
reboot and rethink what didn't work.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Out of those, I'm probably most excited from a sporting
side about Utah. Yeah, they had a similarly sort of
high end to last season that unfortunately they were not
able to sort of carry into the start of this season.
They had so many injuries you couldn't even really get
a sense of who the team was until they started
getting players back. But then they did and they started clicking,
(20:15):
and I think they play some of the most beautiful football,
certainly from like the bottom half of the table, but
I would say like top three is most aesthetically pleasing
teams when they're when they're like on it. They didn't
even make that many adjustments to their roster. They brought
in one player I'm blanking on her name, Prasnakar, I'm
blanking on her first name, who's sort of still been
(20:37):
working her way into the squad building minutes. But I
think that all of these players are super bought in,
and it makes sense because I imagine Utah is not
the easiest sell when you're trying to recruit international players
or those who you know want to be on the coasts.
So if a player arrives, they're they're there to get
to work. And I think that that's been showing. So
my hope for Utah is that they're able to just
(21:00):
keep it going into the start of next season.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yeah. I have to admit, when Ali Sednor got traded
and the team was struggling so much, I thought, what's
the plan here? This is your future and you're not
playing for right now. I'm still a little bit unsure
of whether that was a force out situation, that Ali's
not publicly telling us that she was demanding out, but
(21:23):
I think it was really incredible to see how the
team after that trade got much better. Maybe it was
a fit issue, Maybe it was a you know, too
much focus on one player that everyone's playing around instead
of with. I don't know, but I was really surprised
to see how they played after that moment.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
I think so too, And I wonder if it's a
matter of playing styles. Some styles are better suited to
be built around a player, and Jimmy Conrat's the head
coach of Utah, I think that he is more about
an even distribution of responsibility would sort of be my guest,
and so it might have been a style mismatch or
a misfit of style, but Alie sent Nor such an
(22:02):
interesting story because she's now with the Kansas City Current,
who are stacked, have a super deep bench, and it
feels like this is was not going to be the
season that she was going to immediately come over and
be starting every game, playing full nineties. She's definitely gonna
be a long term project for that team, but she's
in the postseason in Utah is.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
And she might learn a lot in that position for
as young as she is, totally and playing under black
co and alongside players like lo La Banta Right right,
we got to take a quick break more with Tamara
Griffin right after this for those teams that didn't advance
(22:45):
any storyline to will be watching this off season for
those squads, positive, negative or otherwise.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
You know, I'm a Nora Cal girl, so BFC is
close to my heart, my head, my pen like I'm
keeping a very close eye on them. This has been
I think even calling it a sophomore slump at this
point is probably being a little bit too nice. A
lot of questions within that team the coaching fit did
(23:10):
not end up working out, which was even more disappointing
given that they actually made it into the postseason and
their expansion year last year, so there were high expectations there.
I've been to a bunch of the games. The body
language of the players sort of reflects where they're at
right now. They're definitely transitioning. I'm very curious to see
what the CEO of the Bay collective that sort of
(23:32):
oversees BFC as a club and will eventually be a
multi club model. It's headed up by Kay Cosington, who
spent twenty years with the English Football Association so knows
her shit and I just am expecting her to sort
of be tapping into her past experiences and to sort
of bring that over to Bay. But changes need to
(23:52):
be made, and I would be surprised if they haven't
already been made and just haven't fully been announced yet.
But some healing needs to happen. To borrow words from
the Red Table talk with BFC, and I'm ready for it.
I know the fans are ready for it. They've got
the foundation to build a long term, successful club. But
there's been a mismatch, which you know we've seen with
(24:12):
clubs like Angel City, who I'm also very curious about.
They had a lot of departures this year and for them,
I'm sort of looking for a fresh start because they've
brought in a lot of young players with high ceilings
that play exciting football. Alex Strauss came in mid season,
you know, twenty twenty six will be his first to
you know, start from the beginning and actually recruit players
(24:34):
in earnest. So those are teams that I'm going to
be keeping my eye on. I'm also excited to see
what Chicago's able to do now that they're going to
be playing closer to Chicago. That one game against Orlando Pride,
which was crazy, now that I think about it, I
think is the beginning of something that can be really
special for that So I'm feeling optimistic honestly about the
(24:55):
bottom table teams as.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Long as that a whole listen they or kristen us
embrace and the Chicago neutral colored stars wearing alissen Air
shirts doesn't mean that we've seen the end of Alyssenair.
I know it's her time to decide she's given us
more than enough, but I want to see her go out.
I know they won, but I still want to see
her go out and style a little bit more with
a team that does something more to play for she deserves. Okay,
(25:18):
regular season wrapped quick look ahead to the playoff matchups.
I don't need a full breakdown, but just your first
thought on each of them. Kansas City got them.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
It depends on which Gotham shows up. To be completely
honest with you, Kansas City have in the past two games,
even though they beat the San Diego Wave, they are
probably more vulnerable than they've been all seasons. So they
can they're the most beatable that they've been. But it's
going to depend on which Gotham side shows up. Honestly,
if it's the one that played North Carolina courage.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
That might be the end of their season.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Washington Louisville, we of course don't know Trinity Rodman's status.
It doesn't feel like something that she'll be able to
pop into in this opening round. Though we don't know
first reaction to that one.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Washington is still the stronger team. I think that they
have what it takes to go a full ninety and
to be dominant for a full ninety racing. Louisville have
so much to play for. They've already accomplished something that
has never been done for their club, and I think
there can be a added courage and freedom that comes
with that. But I think playing in DC, playing at
(26:26):
rowdy Audi, especially in the postseason, we saw how that
went last year, and I think, if nothing else, that's
going to be the margin that gives Washington.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
The edge Portland San Diego. This is an interesting one.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
Honestly, the most the highest quotient for drama, I think
because both teams have been very inconsistent all respect to Portland,
but the fact that they ended the regular season as
a number three seed, my brain is not like four
or four error in with that. They've been dealing with
a lot of injuries, even against the Use and Dash.
(27:00):
There were some last minute withdrawals from the availability list,
but again they're playing at Providence Park and that's their
favorite place to be. San Diego, on the other hand,
have been on a bit of an upward swing. They
have a nineteen year old superstar, Jugenia, who arrived maybe
a month ago and made immediate impact. I'm really excited
(27:23):
to see her play.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
This is a wild thing about football, by the way.
It's just wild how often it's just this season, someone
will just show up, whether it's a coach or a player,
like teams can look so different at the end of
the season at the beginning.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Mm hmm, Yeah, that one's really hard to say. I
low key hope that one goes into extra time and
maybe penalties. I think that's gonna be the tightest one.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Okay, let's talk Orlando, Seattle, the Pride and the Rain
just played to a one to one draw in that
last game. On decision Day. They'll run it back in
the first round. Does either team enter with more confidence
because of that draw?
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Probably?
Speaker 2 (28:01):
I mean Orlando, what a season they've had. They've been
through a lot. They're gonna be again. Of course, without
Roberta Banda. They have had to learn, and I do
think that this is a somewhat of a benefit to
them relative to other teams like Kansas City, who are
very recently without Tamashuwinga. Orlando have had to learn for
the past several games now how to play without Banda,
(28:22):
and it looks like the pieces are starting to come together.
They're not scoring as much as they did in Seattle.
Loves a mid block. They love to sit back and
just let you hammered at them because they can handle it.
They got Claudia Dicky in the back, Jordan Bug who's
been phenomenal this season, her rookie season. This game, I
(28:43):
think is sort of like the inverse of what I'm
expecting from Portland San Diego, where I think it's going
to be a lot of sitting back, almost like playing
chicken with each other, And I think it's gonna probably
be one of those games that comes down to a
moment of individual brilliance that when I look at the rosters,
I feel inclined to see that that brilliance is going
to come from Orlando. They also benefit from not having
(29:04):
to travel playing at home. Seattle is going to stay
in Orlando just the whole week.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Laura Harvey mentioned in the postgame interview that they're not moving,
which is an interesting choice that I think we'll be
able to glean a lot from based on how that
game goes. But I think slight tilt toward Orlando for me.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Yeah, And I think you might be hinting at it.
There's other players too, But I just feel like we've
seen enough from Marta in the last couple of years,
these moments when she is most needed and somehow she's
still doing it that you can see if it comes
down to one person and they're brilliance, it very much
could be her. You mentioned Laura Harvey. She made some
headlines for admitting to using chat GPT to make some
(29:41):
game plans earlier in the season. Big deal or no deal.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
I mean, it's one of those things where if that
news had just stayed within the community either of like
women's soccer or even we can expand it to women's sports,
it's like, Okay, we're all adults here.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
This is weird and and it gives I'm.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
A little bit concerned about where the game might be headed,
but we can get through this. But because it went viral,
it's sort of like, Okay, now other people are aware.
People might not even know who Laura Harvey is, and
now there's like no context about how.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
Long she's been with the league.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
You know.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
It was one of those kind of things like company
is over.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
You know, right, That's what I was going to say.
It's like it's Laura Harvey, so everyone end up her
sells like that's kind of crazy, but whatever, it's probably
just like bored at this point. They outside my brain,
which already knows everything. Meanwhile, you get it out into
the world and it's kind of like the old like no,
we could say that about our family and friends. You
can't say that shit about our family and exact people
(30:41):
you don't know women's sports or Laura Harvey start talking shit.
You're like, no, no, no, it's not a big thing. Exactly.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
That's exactly how I feel about it. And I sat
in on Seattle's postgame interview and Phoebe mcclarenan center back,
was asked about it, and she was sort of like,
it's a tool, and I think someone would be remiss
to not use tools available to them.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
It sounds like the like within.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
The camp they're kind of moved past it, and I mean,
it makes sense it's time to get into postseason mode.
But yeah, it was one of those sort of like
paradoxes of like, this is weird, and also, please let's
not make it a big thing before other people start looking.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Yeah, it's like a big deal and no deal at
the same time. Exactly. Okay, speed round. I'm gonna make
you make some predictions. Okay, which of the first round
matchups most likely to see an upset.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
San Diego Portland?
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Okay, Which team in the bottom half of the bracket
has the best shot to win it all? Gotham, yesn't
that wild. Yeah, just the highs and the lows as
chance the rapper has and the lows on which team
not named the Kansas City Current of any place in
the bracket has the best shot to win it all.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
Washington Spirit Okay, okay, easy peasy.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
Last question. We play a little game called good, good
or Goodest. It's like bench start cut, but you don't
have to cut anything. Something is just I love these roles.
Something is gooder and something is goodest. Okay, So starting
with good label these three things racing Louisville Lavender, Kansas
City Current, Teal, Angel City Soul Rosa, Pink.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Soul Rosa Pink, Good Lavender, Gooder, Teal, Goodest.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Yeah, tough one.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
That's a tough one. The only reason I love the
Soul Rosa pink is because for such a long time
we just stayed away from pink because of the stereotypical associations.
And I love how we're just kind of like get
taking it back. When I feel that way about Valkyrie
violet and Louisville lavender and all these colors that are
sort of quote unquote girly, they're actually really badass and
they look amazing on a field. Or a pitch or
(32:46):
a court, and we're finally getting back to it, which
I love and I love talking to you, Tamara. Always
so great to get the insight on all things footy
from you. So thanks for coming on, especially on a
very busy post decision day day.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
I'm wishing you all of the deep tissue massages, ginger shots,
hydration calming things, because we're gonna thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
Probably at this point we're just in a full maintenance
phase for the rest of our lives. It's not even
ahead of big, big events or after big events. It's
true maintenance is required. And my apologies to Alex and
anyone editing for this. How many times my stomach grumbled
because that was audible to me the entire show, and
that also might be a hint to me for a
little better maintenance of myself and not waiting till four pm.
(33:30):
T Thanks again to Tamarra for taking the time. We
got to take another quick break when we come back.
You've got a friend in me. Welcome back, slices. We
love that you're listening, but we want you to get
in the game every day too. So here's our good
(33:50):
game play of the day. Follow Tamara on social media
and check out her recent stories for The Athletic. And
if you're not already listening to full time what you're doing,
we'll link to all of that in the show notes.
And we always love to hear from you, so hit
us up on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com
or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two
four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe rate and
(34:13):
review slices. Just scroll down, give us five stars and
say what you love about us. It's really easy. Watch
Kansas City current player Kristin Hamilton's former teammates surprising her
for her retirement game, rating three out of three best
friends that anyone could have review. Kansas City's Kristin Hamilton
is retiring at the end of the season, and while
(34:34):
a hip injury has kept her sidelined recently, she's still
got a very wholesome sendoff celebration as part of Kansas
City's last regular season game. Ahead of the match, Hamilton
was surprised by former longtime teammates Sam Ewis, now retired,
and Lynn Biandolo on maternity lea from the Seattle Rain
this trio has been together for a long time. First
(34:54):
as members of the Western New York Flash, they helped
that club win the NWSL title back in twenty sixteen.
Then they made the move to North Carolina when the
Flash was acquired and rebranded as the Courage in twenty seventeen,
winning back to back championships there in twenty eighteen and
twenty nineteen, and then all three also ended up making
the move to Kansas City via trades in twenty twenty
(35:15):
one and twenty twenty two. Needless to say, Hamilton, Mewis
and Biandolo have won a lot together and they've been
through a lot together, so it was really fun seeing
their reunion for Hamilton's final game. We'll link to the
video of that moment in the show notes. Now it's
your turn, rate and review, y'all. Thanks for listening, See
you tomorrow. Good game, Tamarra, good game, Sam, and Lynn
(35:36):
for showing up for a long time NWSL badass. You
outside people talking shit about women in sports, only we
get to talk shit about women in sports. Good Game
with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in
partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find
us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you
(35:57):
get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network. Our producers
are alex Azzie, Grace Lynch, Taylor Williamson, and Lucy Jones.
Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan
and Emily Rutterer. Our editors are Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez
and Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from Avery Loftus and I'm
Your Host Sarah Spain
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Sarah Spain
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