October 20, 2025 • 39 mins
Play-by-play announcer Kate Scott joins Sarah to discuss how she got her start, the nuances and challenges of calling different sports, trying not to screw things up for an entire gender, and what she’s doing to prepare for her new job as the lead voice of the USA Network's WNBA coverage. Plus, making the leak official, birthing berths, and the wrath of the injury gods is fierce.
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Follow Kate on Instagram here
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Check out Becky Hammon’s dance moves here
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Read The Athletic’s story about the CLA coaching method here
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Alex Sarama’s website is here
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we recommend
you repurpose those No King's protest signs as window decorations.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Let Ola Gargle, D's Nuts.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
And Cankeles Mctaco Tits live on It's Monday, October twenty eth.
Then on today's show, we'll be talking to play by
play announcer and new lead boys for USA Networks WNBA coverage,
Kate Scott.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
We chat about how she got.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Her start calling games, the nuances and challenges of calling
different sports, and what she's doing to prep for the
new w job, plus making the leak official, birthing births,
and the wrath of the injury gods is fierce. It's
all coming up right after this Welcome back slices. Hope
(00:45):
you had a great weekend. Here's what you need to
know today. Four more teams clinched NWSL playoff berths over
the weekend, Seattle, San Diego, Gotham FC, and Portland to
join Orlando, Kansas City and Washington in the postseason party.
Seattle clinched with a two to one win over Utah
got them clinched by drawing with Racing Louisville two to
(01:06):
two Portland clinched with a two nail victory over Angel City,
and San Diego went above and beyond with a six
to one win over Chicago. Their six tallies the most
in a single game in club history, and their three
goals in the opening eighteen minutes the fastest three goals
to start a match in club history. This weekend's results
also saw the Houston Dash and Angel City both officially
(01:29):
eliminated from.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
The playoff race.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
That was a tough pill to swallow for ACFC fans
and players ahead of their final home game of the season,
but they still got to enjoy a special evening honoring
retiring players Ali Riley and Kristin Press. We'll have more
on that in tomorrow show. With seven teams in and
two alive but not yet advanced, that leaves one spot left.
It'll go to either the North Carolina Courage or Racing Louisville,
(01:53):
a team that's still looking for the first postseason birth
in franchise history. Will break down what needs to happen
for each to advance ahead of decision day on Sunday,
November two, the last day of the NWSL regular season.
The league first breaks next weekend for international friendlies before
resuming for that last regular season match day, which will
also determine the seeding for playoff berths three through eight.
(02:16):
More NWSL and an update on Trinity Rodman, who sustained
an injury during a Washington Spirit game last week, just
hours after she was named to the US women's national
team roster for an upcoming trio of friendlies. Ahead of
the Spirit's game against Orlando on Saturday, coach Adrian Gonzalez
announced that Rodman has been diagnosed with a Grade one
MCL spring and is sidelined indefinitely. Gonzales told reporters injuries
(02:39):
are never good, but quote, it's not as bad as
it could be now. While Gonzales declined to provide a
timeline on Rodbin's return, sources told Emily Olsen of The
Athletic that it's possible the Spirit star could return before
the conclusion of the NWSL season, depending both on her
recovery progression and how far her team makes it in
the postseason.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
On Sunday, it was announced that Robin will not.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Be replaced on the OS women's national team roster for
the training camp that begins today and the team's trio
of upcoming friendlies. Kansas City midfielder low Labanta has been
named as the replacement for Rain midfielder Sam Meza, who's
out dealing with a mild hamstring strain. And just as
we were celebrating Rodman appearing to have escaped major injury,
the injury gods struck again on Saturday night. Kansas City
(03:23):
forward and reigning NWSLMVP ten with Shaweinga, suffered an apparent
non contact injury in the first half of her team's
one nil loss to the Houston Dash, a loss that
ended the current franchise tying streak of seventeen straight unbeaten matches.
After being tended to on the field for several minutes
by athletic trainers, Sheweinga had to be carried off the field.
(03:45):
Heading into the game, Shaweena was actually listed as questionable
due to a knee issue, but after the match, Kansas
City coach Vlatko Andanovsky said Saturday's injury wasn't her knee,
but instead an upper leg injury.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Asked about the.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Decision to play Shaweinga, who leads the Golden bootstandings with
fifteen goals, and Danovsky told reporters she felt very good,
adding quote, this was a game that she should have
played about sixty minutes.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Obviously something happened. It's a freak accident. End quote.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
As of this recording, we're still waiting for updates on
showinga status, but we're sending her our best and hoping
for good news to the WNBA. The Las Vegas Aces
celebrated their twenty twenty five WNBA Championship win and third
title in four years with a parade through the streets
of Vegas on Friday and a celebration at Toshiba Plaza
that included performances from Ludacris Maya and Crime Mob. Asia
(04:36):
Wilson's parade fit definitely deserves a mention. She rocked a
T shirt that said Regression year on the back re
apostrophe aggression. It was a nod to a tweet back
in June from a sports reporter that read, quote, the
Asia Wilson regression was something I didn't expect to see
this season end quote. She also sported a Thanos Gauntlet
glove with the Infinity Stones on it labeled scoring title
(04:58):
five K for her five thousand career points. Defensive Player
of the Year MVP Finals, MVP and champ.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Tough during the celebration.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
When coach Becky Hammond addressed the fan, she said this
year's group was the easiest to coach of her four
years at the Helm, saying, quote, they came in and
worked their tails off no matter the circumstances. This is
one of the most resilient, high character groups.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
End quote. I'm just wondering if Becky can coach.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Me up on that dance move she busted out during
the Crime Mob set. We'll link to it in the
show notes in case you missed it.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
More WNBA.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
The Portland Fire expansion team made it official on Friday,
announcing the hiring of Alex Sarama as the franchise's first
head coach. Earlier last week, the team accidentally leaked the
news with some premature posts on both LinkedIn and Instagram.
Sarama most recently worked as an assistant coach with the
Cleveland Cavaliers, and prior to that, he spent time in
Portland as an assistant coach and director of player development
(05:54):
for the city's G League team, the Rip City Remix. Now,
he's perhaps best known for subscribing to an innovative training
system that's popular in European basketball called the constraints led approach. Now,
for this training goes beyond traditional drills and set play
quote unquote rehearsals, instead putting players in situations using constraints
on things like rules, time limits, steps, or space to
(06:16):
encourage in the moment problem solving and creativity. I read
up on it a bit, and the constraints led approach
actually sounds fascinating. It has big name supporters in the
LA Sparks Kelsey Plum and the mnba's Victor Wembin Yama,
and has been incorporated into training by winning teams across.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Multiple pro sports and leagues.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
But I do think it might require some buy in
and patience from players who might not be used to
deviating from traditional drills and practice techniques, especially when it
comes to embracing the science behind it and the language.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
That's associated with it.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
So here's a sample from Serama's Transforming Basketball website to
give you a taste of what I mean.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Rather than viewing offense and defense through the lens of
attempting to control every possession, transforming basketball at the kates
for a quote unquote principles of play based approach at
every level of basketball as opposed to focusing on rigid
game models such as continuity offenses, fixed sets, and automatic rules.
Transforming basketball presents the case for conceptual defensive and offensive
(07:15):
principles that align with an ecological dynamics rationale. Creative analogies
in the constraints let approach are used to shape such principles,
developing players that can be adaptive performers in any environment.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
That was about the least confusing paragraph on the website, and.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
That's not a judgment.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
I'm just saying it will take some time, I think
for folks to dive in and really understand what they're
trying to do with this constraints let approach. We'll link
to his website and a story from The Athletic about
the CLA if you want to do a deeper dive
to golf. South Korea's say Young Kim won the BMW
Ladies Championship on Sunday, marking her thirteenth overall title since
(07:53):
joining the LPGA Tour in twenty fifteen, but her first
victory in five years. The thirty two year old Kim,
who won by four strokes in front of a home
crowd at Pine Beach Golf Links in South Korea, became
the twenty seventh different player to win on the LPGA
Tour this year. Slice is one more fun note to share.
(08:14):
Do y'all remember way back at the beginning of the
NWSL season when we forgot to include Racing Louisville in
our season preview and heard about the omission from none
to other than the mom of rookie racing player.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Ella has Well.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
We're happy to share that Ella and fellow racing rookie
Katie Ocine are both part of the U twenty three
women's national team training camp that kicks off today. Congrats
on the call up, Ella, and congrats to your very
proud mom as well.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Hope she's still listening. We got to take a quick break.
When we come back.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
It's Kate Scott, who I caught up with last week,
keep it here, joining us now. She's the television voice
of the Philadelphia seventy six ers, the lone woman and
to do play by play for the NFL, NBA, NHL,
NCAA football, the Olympics and a World Cup. And she's
(09:06):
the first ever female voice to commentate in the Madden
video game.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
She was recently announced as.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
The lead voice for USA Network's WNBA coverage next season,
wife to Nicole Dog, mom to Piper, a UC Berkeley crad.
She wraps Philly Now, but she's a native of Fresno County, California. Fresno,
fres Yes, it's Kate Scott.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Hi King, Sarah, it is so good to see you.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
That might be my favorite intro all time. Fresn, fres Yes,
maybe it's great to see you.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
It's great to see you too.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
For those who can't see, because this is an audio platform,
Kate is wearing a shirt that has a baseball player
hitting a ball, but it's his touchdown, which I guess
sums up how women understand sports right.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Like me, Not yet, it's too tricky exactly.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
I thought you, of all people, would appreciate this shirt,
so thank you for noticing and bringing it to the airwaves.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
For those who can't sit official media.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Well, we're going to talk about how you somehow do
you call every single sport and how that blows my mind.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
But I want to start with the new.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
News because you've just added a whole summer of WNBA
vault here already packed NBA and more calendar.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
I wasn't working enough, Sarah. You know I wasn't working enough,
so I said, what else can I do?
Speaker 3 (10:16):
And You're right?
Speaker 1 (10:17):
So what feeling is taking over more right now? Happiness
or overwhelm?
Speaker 4 (10:22):
There was a little overwhelm at first, but Sarah, you
and I was looking back earlier today knowing that we
were going to chat, looking to see how long we've
known each other. We've known each other for eleven years,
and you and I were both covering I know you
still obviously are covering women's sports, but we met when
we were both covering women's sports, and I am not
here doing all the things you listed without women's sports.
(10:44):
I played women's sports growing up. I watched women's sports
growing up. I have always been obsessed with women's sports,
and I always hoped that I would be able some
way to get back to covering them now. I'm lucky
enough to be calling the NWSL right now in the
US women's national team for Westwood One Radio, so I
still have, you know, that toe in the soccer door.
(11:05):
But I love women's souper I'm not calling NBA basketball
now without all my years covering the incredible Pac twelve
RIP conference, right So, when versus and mostly all the
W games are going to be on USA Network. When
they came and said, hey, we know you're super busy
and maybe you won't be interested in this, but we
(11:26):
also think you're kind of obsessed with women's sports like
we are, and we want someone who's obsessed, who has
your excitement level to help lead us into you know,
our W time. So that's when I started listening, and
obviously we had a lot more conversations since them and
their excitement and their hopes for what they want to
(11:46):
do with this. That was Sarah why I said, Okay,
I'm going to work all year round again because I.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Have missed the W But also also how they see
this league.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
They understand it and they want to it the respect
and coverage that it deserves, and that's that's why I said.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Yes, Now correct me if I get the details wrong.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
But for those wondering, Versant is basically NBC Universal's spin
off of Sports Golf Channel and then things like usay
a lot of streaming, and they're just basically separating a
little bit some of their content. And so when you
hear Versant, sometimes you'll hear versust, sometimes you'll hear Ussay.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
In terms of the W coverage.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
It means mostly mostly USA network is where you'll be
able to watch.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
Yeah, very soon it will make more sense and we
will just be referring to it as Usay, the W
is going to be on USA starting next year. We
have more games than any other broadcaster. We have fifty
plus games. We're going to have Wednesday night doubleheaders, which
is where you'll be able to find me. I'll be
calling one of the Wednesday night doubleheader games all season long,
and then we have playoffs, and then we have a
(12:50):
lot of the finals games next.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Mazonk Yeah, so okay, we'll get back to the women's game.
But I want to tell folks, if they're not familiar,
how you got here. When did the announcer bug bite you?
Speaker 4 (13:01):
Oh, the natcherbug didn't actually bite me until after college, Sarah,
because you and I are old heads, so I know you.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Notice.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
I graduated from.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Cal back in two thousand and five, and even at
that time, I could count on my hand the number
of women who were covering sports in any form. I
did not hear a woman calling a game until my
junior year of college, when I heard my friend and mentor,
Beth Mowens calling a Mountain West football game on a
Friday night at ten o'clock on the.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
West Coast, and I was like, this is different. Why
is this different?
Speaker 4 (13:31):
And I didn't even realize why I was different in
first and then third quarter. Oh, it's a jet calling
a game. So when I was at school, I thought
sports reporting, maybe sports anchoring, writing, those were all the
things that I was learning how to do because I
thought that was going to be my ceiling. And then, thankfully,
right after I graduated, a man who I had worked
with during my time at CAL on like a link
Cal Highlight Show and stuff, got asked to produce a
(13:54):
season of high school football in the Bay Area. Said Kate,
I think you should do some play by play for me.
I said, Paul, you're full of shit. I've never called
it anything before, like I'm gonna suck. It's gonna be awful.
And he said, probably that's all the case. All the
dudes i'm asking have never called sports before either. If
you hate it and you suck, you never have to
do it again. But I think you're not gonna suck,
and I think you're actually gonna like it, So.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Why don't you try?
Speaker 4 (14:17):
And Paul was right I loved it. It was all
the all the emotions that I remember from playing sports.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Right.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
You can do all the prep and practice you want,
but once the game starts, it's a live game and
you just have to react to everything that's happening. So
the anxiety, the nerves, the excitement, all those things that
I had missed from my playing days which ended after
high school. And I thought, okay, reporting and anchoring and
writing those are all great and I would love to
do them. But if I can figure out a way
(14:43):
to do this, this is what I really want to do,
because this lights my soul on fire like I haven't
felt in a few years.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
It is incredible pressure, live in the moment, to react,
to understand what's going on.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
And thank God for Paul. We need people like that.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Because we do.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
You know, when I got started, and it always makes
me sound so ancient, but when you talk about it,
and it's reality. I grew up there were no women
anywhere doing anything in sports in Chicago. There was one
byeline that I could read, but I was focused on
what she was writing about. I didn't even really look
at the byline. And then even years later, when I
was in La trying to do comedy and thought maybe sports, oh,
sports would be interesting. I've literally spent my whole life
(15:21):
playing and talking about them. I've just never thought about
doing them for work. It was still a constant funnel
into sideline reporting, and I was like, first of all,
I don't look like Aaron Andrews. And secondly, there's no opinion,
there's no sense of humor. There's a lot more you
can do with sideline reporting these days, but back in
the day, I was just like, you get two lines
a game and none of its opinion.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
That's not me. And I want to be funny and
I want to be you know, all these things.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
And so it's wild how much the door is open
for so many different things that women can do now,
from top to bottom, every part of the game. But
it's fascinating to me the work that goes into it.
And you did do some other things along the way.
You worked your way up in the local Bay area
in Radio k and BR, which is the radio flagship
for them, the Giants, the forty nine Ers, the Warriors.
You were the first woman to be the station's full
(16:04):
time on air voice. And I was reading that and
thinking to the messages that I got as the first
woman on the air at ESPN one thousand in Chicago
and over document when we were both working in radio, exactly,
and there were women before me, but it had been
eleven years since the last one was on every day
and all I was doing was updates, nothing too fancy.
I just come on and say, tonight at seven, the
(16:24):
Cubs take on the Reds.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
You know it'll be this is how the black Hawks
played last night. Yeah, back to you guys.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Yeah exactly.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
And I still got treated like garbage and accused of
sleeping with everybody to get the job and gati out.
So I'm wondering how the locals treated you at that
first on air gig.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
Same, I'm flashing back to this now that is you
were also doing that when you and I met. It
was a brutal for six months, and I thought I
knew how brutal it was going to be, thinking this
is San Francisco, it's the Bay Area, it is peace
and love. I've been reporting on the traffic for five years.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
People are gonna know me and accept me. And that
was not the case.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
People were awful for the first six months, and I
still remember going into my program director is the person
who does the hiring at a sports radio station or
any radio station. And you and I have so much
in common, Sarah one. We love a challenge, right like,
bring a DF on. We got this, That's why we're
here now. And despite that, a couple weeks in, I
(17:25):
went into Hammer Lee Hammer's office and said, I don't
know if I can do this, Lee, like this.
Speaker 5 (17:30):
Is it really seems like everybody doesn't want me here.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
I expected there to be some people, but I don't know.
And today's credit. We're still in touch. Today, we still text.
He said, Kate, I know this is really hard. I
also know you can do this because we've been waiting
to hire a woman and there's a reason that we
haven't before, because we were waiting for the right one.
And shout out to gen Violet, the woman who was
(17:57):
in the room who was his assistant program director. It
was the two of them who came together and said, no,
she's the one. She came into the room as well
and they said, hey, we've got your back. We know
this is hard, right now, just put your head down
and keep coming to work each and every morning and
people are gonna come around. Yeah, And I'm so glad
that I had again, Paul offering me the play by
play opportunities, Lee and Jen saying we know this.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Is really hard, but you can do this.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
We all need those people in those moments where we
don't quite see it yet ourselves, we don't quite believe
because holy cats, twenty years later, look where.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
We are now, right, And it's nice when those people
get to take the credit. My person was Justin Craig,
who fought everybody else at he has been one thousand
to hire me and then was great about bringing me
in when I struggled or when I was having the
same thoughts about like I'm literally getting death threats just
for being on the radio for what's going on. Yeah,
and he was like, just take yourself back to your
athlete day. It's like, you're competitive, you want to win,
(18:50):
you want to be the best. Take that attitude with
you every single time you show up to work, and
then you're gonna be fine. People are gonna love you,
they're gonna figure it out. And not everyone did.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
But you know, come.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
And then not the people who believed in us do
get to take the credit. And the funny thing is
some of the people he fought with that didn't want
to hire me once things started to go.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Really well, and I was are they taking credit?
Speaker 4 (19:10):
Now?
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Of course they are.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
I have some of those too. It always makes me
like they're.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
The ones responding to emails like we saw something in Sarah,
and I'm like, you know, we knew.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
Before anybody else did. I'm like, sure they're sure you didn't,
Sure you did. But just to conclude that little story,
I'm so grateful. I look back and I was so
disappointed that I wasn't, you know, as you mentioned Aaron
Andrews at twenty two. But now I'm so grateful for
that really shitty six months because I have obviously experienced
that time and time again, taking on all these new
(19:42):
jobs that a woman had.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Never held before.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
And without that experience, I wouldn't have known one that
it was going to be really hard and two that
I could get through it.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
And I was going too.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
So grateful for that time.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
I also think it shouldn't be required, but when it happens,
it forces women to be even better at their jobs totally,
because when you know that, you can't make a mistake,
because not only will it be your mistake, it'll be
a mistake for the entire gender, because that's what happens.
It's the reason why women shouldn't have these jobs. Is
you personally for when you make a mistake, but also
your desire, Yeah, your desire to prove them wrong, your
(20:15):
desire to make sure that you are more prepared, more ready,
so that you could bring something that maybe even the
men aren't bringing because they can be more casual about
it because they're gonna they're gonna be fine regardless, and
you're gonna have to works on it. I think that's
why so many of the women in this business that
I've met are so much more qualified and so much
more impressive because of how much it took for them
to get that opportunity. So you're working in radio, You're
(20:38):
getting your sports itch, you're scratching that itch.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
You're you're making your way up.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Yeah, the sports are giving you the itch and you're
scratching it. But you're just a year into that gig
and you suffer a terrible accident and you and I
have never really talked about this, but you're riding your bike.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
You get hit by a car.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Can you tell us about working your way back from
that and how that then was this other hurdle of like, Okay,
I'd just gotten past some of the doubt, and now
here it is again.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Well, yeah, I caught me off guard there, Sarah. I
didn't ex compass to get into this. Yeah, it was awful.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
So I had finally gotten to the point, as you mentioned,
where people had gotten okay with my existence and my presence. Okay,
there's gonna be a chick on our sports radio station
and she actually seems to know ball and okay, she's
got a pretty good sense of humor. This will be okay.
And then yeah, a car ran a red light in
San Francisco and I was riding my bike, and I
was so fortunate that I just got my ultraumatic brain injury,
(21:36):
which is just code for a really bad concussion and
soft tissue damage and stuff. But I didn't break anything.
But I couldn't get out of bed for a month
because I had vertigo. Light and all the things that
you hear about with concussions and sounds was just I couldn't.
So I was just pretty much in a dark room
for a month. And of course the entire time that's
going on, even though I can barely sit up, I'm
(21:56):
freaking out that I'm going to lose everything I've worked for, right,
somebody's gonna take my job. I'm gonna get Wallypips. I
have to figure out a way to get back to work.
So much sooner than I should have. I started waking
up at five am, which is when my shift started.
At home, the sports update sounder would sound, and then
(22:18):
in my closet, in my tiny closet San Francisco apartment,
I would turn down the sound and.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Do a sports update.
Speaker 6 (22:25):
So just for yourself, just trying to get myself back
into the road, because it was still hard for me
to sit up, Sarah like, I had a bar in
my shower so that when I leaned back to wash
my hair out, I wouldn't fall over.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
So I should not have gone back to work, but
I went back to work. The accident happened October second.
I went back to work red round Thanksgiving of that year,
and in retrospect, that was too soon. I probably should
have waited till the new year. But I think that
just speaks to how badly I wanted this, and since
then I think back to that, not every day, but
from time to time that I may through that.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Right.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
So I'm going to make it through anything. So your
mean comments on social media, your mean comments in person.
I got hit by a car and so bring it on,
bro right, right, But yeah, that was that was a
really tough moment. And uh, one day I'll tell the
full story to everybody. But I think that's a pretty
good snippet there. Yeah, it was just another challenge and
(23:23):
hurdle that I had to get over that's.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Led me here, right, And I mean, brain injury isn't
just about the physical of getting up and being in
a bright room and the sound, but also just being
quick getting your brain back to working and being the
personality and all that stuff, which is a big part
of the job. And it's why you've been so successful.
You have called pretty much every sport there is. And
(23:46):
I listen, I am not being humble because why start now.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
I could never I am not built to call games now.
Granted I've never tried it.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Maybe I could do it, but it to know every rule,
every situation, every player, every bit of context. For me,
like sometimes I'm sitting around watching ball for fun. And
my husband, who doesn't work in sports but grew up
like most boys and men where people talk to him
about them every second of every day. And he's a
huge fan. He you know, played the video games growing
up and knows. He'll say something and I'll be like, oh,
(24:19):
I'm not watching for that, right, And I'll think to myself, like, oh,
that that's how you have to be watching. If you're
calling like every flag every why didn't they oh they
pulled this person, or that they didn't report that lineman.
Whatever it is, there's just eight million rules for every sport. Yeah,
how did you practice for games? And how did you
learn the nitty gritty details required to call every sport?
Speaker 3 (24:43):
It's it's very hard. It's a lot. It's a lot
of work in the dark.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Right. I like to say that the games are the
fun part. Oh my gosh, like it's an open book test, right.
I have my notes in front of you, but hopefully
most of the time I'm just looking up and calling
the game.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
But it is really how much work you're willing.
Speaker 4 (25:01):
To put in behind the scenes, going down the rabbit
holes on YouTube, on Reddit and trying to figure out
what does this.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
Word mean in a volleyball match?
Speaker 4 (25:11):
You know, that was the first sport I was asked
to call, of course, the one sport that I had
never played, and the pack to all needed help calling
women's volleyball, and of course you say yes and you
just figure it out.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
But I didn't.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
I knew the rules from a cheering my friends on
at a high school match sort of way, but not like.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
There's a bump and there's a set and there's a spike.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
And they're like, don't ever say that in a match, Kate,
please do not use those words.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Listen, this is what you need to say.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
But it is, I like to say, it's like studying
for any other subjects, right, if you want to learn
about history, if you want to learn about science or math.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
It's the same thing with sports.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
Thankfully now there's an Internet, so it's just how much
work you're willing to put in. But it is a
ton of reading, a ton of listening, a ton of watching,
and mostly just a ton of time that you have
to give in to really the same way it would
be playing a sport, right, learn about sport to the
point that you feel comfortable calling it.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Yeah, I mean I tell a lot of up and
comers like, the biggest thing to do is just to
constantly have content in your ears and in front of you,
whether that's reading or listening so that you become just
completely understanding of every tiny, nitty gritty linguistic specificity that
will tell someone that you don't really know ball and
(26:23):
its sports have their own language.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
And every sport has their own Okay, yeah, right.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
And you have to listen all the time to really
get how people talk about it and how the game
is called, and how people write about it. One of
the things I remember hearing about, and I was unfamiliar
with this is that for a lot of sports, they'll
take the people who call the games and before the
season starts, they'll send them out with the officials and
they'll have either meetings or events so that they kind
of learn what are they watching for, how are they
(26:50):
calling it?
Speaker 2 (26:51):
And that makes a lot of sense to me. Have
you done that?
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (26:54):
Thankfully, les have started doing that more. They didn't do
that always at the start of my career. But getting
back to women's basketball, Pac Trowlve of Women's Basketball, shout
out to Violet Palmer, one of the first women and
black women to be an official in the NBA. She
was in charge of officiating for the Pactrol So that
was the first time I experienced it, and she would
sit us down before the season and say, these are
(27:14):
our points of emphasis for the year. Let's watch some
video together, and if you have questions, ask me.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
And now, the NBA has.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
Broadcast meetings before the season starts. We just had them
a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Same thing.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
The NWSL Women's Soccer League, same thing, And it is
so helpful because yes, we know the rules, but we're
also not officials, right. I might have officiated under twelve
soccer a number of years ago, probably a little out
of date to what NWSL officials are looking at. So
it is so helpful because as a fan and as
a broadcaster, I may be looking at one thing and
(27:48):
it may be as simple as saying, okay, Kate, but
you need to look at the feet first, and then
the knees and then the shoulders and then pull back
and try to get the full picture and of my well.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
I hope they do those meetings before the WNBA next
season because a lot of officiating talk, and I think
they will be useful to understand why it's called differently
in college versus the pros, what they're looking for, what
they're being asked to call Okay, we're running out of
time here, so I have a quick speed round on this.
The toughest part about calling a basketball game, like what's
the thing that happens? And you're like, oh, straight, I
hate when I have to figure this out.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
M the speed.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
I don't think anything prepares you for the speed and
physicality of basketball. I know we talk about that a
lot with football. The the NBA is football without the pads,
and the guys are no breaks, and I think the
W is the same way. Now, Holy cats, those ladies
are so fast these days.
Speaker 5 (28:36):
Hockey game, you better have every single player memorized, Sarah,
because there is no time to look down, and everybody
has helmets on and everybody looks the same, and they
don't at least in football they have numbers on the
front and the back.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Most of the time. In hockey they just have you know,
a black hawk. Yeah they have a fly so far.
So you have to have everybody memorized or you're screwed.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Football.
Speaker 7 (29:00):
Oh hardest thing about football probably the amount of players
on a football roster, because there is so many, and
sometimes at the college level there's double numbers and guys
will sometimes switch numbers if they're on a kicking.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
Team, and don't get me started on that.
Speaker 4 (29:18):
But the amount of players you have to keep track
of when it comes to football, I think is the
most difficult part.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
I think also just knowing what the job of each
person on the line is, both defensively and offensively, so
you can really know if someone blew something or if
it was the fault of someone else, but it looks
like that hole was caused by this person. Like those
details I think are the top total on the line.
Speaker 4 (29:38):
And that gets back to right, what we were talking
about before is research. Right when I started calling high
school football, I thought I knew football, But now fifteen
years later, really digging in.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Oh, I see what the left guard did wrong there?
Speaker 4 (29:51):
Right when back when I was starting, I was like,
here's the offensive line, here's the defensive line.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
Like, let's dive back to you.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
What about soccer, oh.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Harson with soccer?
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Gosh, soccer might be the easiest one for me to
call because it's the sport I play the longest, and
they don't have helmets right so, and and usually people
staying in the same spot ish on the pitch, so it's.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
A lot of space, a lot of room to see
what's developing.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Yeah, so I.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
Think I think maybe for soccer, for me, it's knowing
when to lay out, which is something that you have
to work on.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
Right.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
I don't have to talk through the entire goal because
most of the time I'm calling it on television. Let
the pictures do the talking, which is so much easier
said than done when you're paid to talk. Is to
know when to shut up. So maybe that that's.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
The Just to ask my husband or anyone in my life,
I'm like, oh wait, I get paid for this.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
This is a good skill. Oh shut up for what? Okay? Okay,
not not always useful in life. Good to know.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
What do you think is to be the biggest challenge
when it comes to the new gig, the w gig?
Speaker 4 (30:57):
Yeah gosh, I mean after this season of free agency,
I think the hardest thing is going to be knowing
who's playing for what right and where are we and
what's happening.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
I'm so excited about this offseason, Sarah.
Speaker 4 (31:10):
I mean, I'm keeping all the things cross that the
CBA gets worked out. Everybody is happy enough, because nobody's
ever completely happy after negotiations. But I just hope that
everything starts on time. I hope it is a mad
off season, and I hope all the momentum that has
built over the past couple of seasons we just get
to build off of that, right because Wow, the league
(31:32):
is so incredible right now and it's just going to
keep getting better. So that's I think just figuring out
who is where is going to be the hardest part.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
I remember when we'd start a new season when I'm
back when I very first started in sports. I worked
at Fox Sports Net, which existed before FS one even
came around, and when a new season would start, one
of the first things we'd say ahead of like the
first opening weekend of whatever it was, was one of
the biggest stories, it's new faces in new places, faces
in new places. And either way, it was like, how
(32:02):
are you making sure you tell the story in the
highlight and give the context that this person used to
be here and now they're here or this is a
big deal and why And I feel like that's going
to be all of the w starting back up next year. Yeah,
so you're actually before then, you've got a whole NBA season.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
It's about to get the NBA.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
M NBA is what we usually call it here. Yes,
the m NBA and the Philadelphia Sixers job is a
big one. You're just a second woman on the TV
call for an NBA team, joining friend of the show
Lisa Buyington, who calls Milwaukee Bucks games. You won over
that city eventually, just like anywhere else, to take a
full time. But before I let you go, I do
want you to quickly tell the story about six Ers
star tyres Maxie how he got COVID, has TV aspirations
(32:43):
and ended up watching you on the call, and I
just love what it could mean. Not for Tyrese, although
I wish him luck in that, but just in general
what that illustrated in terms of what you represent.
Speaker 4 (32:55):
Yeah, it was super difficult when I get hired for
so many reasons. So I got hired September twenty twenty one,
going into the twenty twenty one twenty two season, which
it wasn't the COVID year, but it was the year
right out of COVID. So moving across the country, I'm
a gay chick from California.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
Everybody hates me.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
I'm replacing a dude who's been born and raised in
Philly called six Ers games for thirty years.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
Like good luck Kate again.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
And on top of that, I can't interact with the
players yet, I can't go to practice.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
We're calling our road games off of monitors.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
So all the things I would do to at least
start to try to settle in, I wasn't able to do.
One of the positives that turned out happening was all
of us were getting COVID during that time, and Tyrese Maxey,
who's now a superstar in the NBA and just going
to keep getting better and is our young future leader,
(33:44):
gets COVID and so he's listening to me calling games
and apparently something he heard excited him, and since then
he's been a wonderful support of mine. When the Mad
News came out last year, he's you know, sending out
supportive notes for.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
Me, which you know, Sarah like, yeah, when.
Speaker 4 (34:02):
NBA players are going to w games years ago, that
was a big deal, even though we didn't want it
to be a big deal.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
So when the star of the team.
Speaker 4 (34:09):
That you're calling, who everybody loves, says, hey, everybody, you
should listen to this chick and support her because she's pretty.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
Awesome, that went a long way. And I hope that
he's here for a long time, and I hope I'm
here for a long time.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
And yeah, he's He's just a phenomenal human and talent.
Shades of Steph Curry because you know, I got to
Curry cover stuph for a number of years on the
Warriors flagship, and I don't expect him to beat Steph
to be the greatest shooter of all time.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
Yeah, all those same vibes.
Speaker 4 (34:37):
He just gets all of it on and off the
floor and really excited to see where he and Sixers
go in the years.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
He seems like a very good dude.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
And the idea that he was like, I might want
to do this later, So I'm going to take notes
from Kate and watch how she does it, because I
like how she does this is great. And little boys
and girls everywhere turning on TVs that don't know any
different just think that that's what a basketball game sounds like. Oh,
this is my end team. And when I think about
growing up, and there wasn't a single woman other than
a lovable that was visible to me. Just the Bulls cheerleaders.
(35:07):
The entire Bulls run that I was obsessed with was
just the cheerleaders. And instead the kids growing up now
are just like, oh yeah, that's how games are.
Speaker 4 (35:15):
It's it's Kate, and I know our buddy Kylin mill
Is called a Bulls preseason game the other day. I've
known Kylin since she was out on the West Coast
for a little bit, so yeah, you know my saying, sir,
little by little one walks far. There's been a hell
of a lot of progress since you and I met,
and it's not where we want it to be, but
it's happening, so let's keep getting there.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
And I love that we're gonna have more intersections with
good game and Kate once the WNBA starts really quick.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
House Piper, my love of my pep.
Speaker 4 (35:43):
Piper is great, annoying as ever, But how are your
puppies our pity rescues that we love so much.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
Two of them are old and one of them is
a little punk and it's a great combination. Keeps me
on my toes, so old ones and a little young jerk. Kate,
you're the absolute best. I couldn't be happier. No one
is more deserving of all the success. I hope you
somehow find sleep and balance and Piper snuggles. Puppy snuggles
fix everything. But we're just rooting you on from AFAR.
Speaker 4 (36:10):
Thank you so much, Sarah, so great to see you,
and Alex and everybody.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
Thanks for listening.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Thanks again to Kate for taking the time and hanging out.
We have to take another break when we return. Sweet
Treats and Jock Ducks Welcome back Slices.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too, So here's our
good gameplay of the day. Follow Kate on social media.
We'll link to her insta in the show notes. It's
worth it just for her dog alone. Also, we are
knee deep into spooky season and the best candy day
of the year is fast approaching. So I want to
know the lesser known or small brand candy that you
(36:53):
swear by, not you know, the box office blockbusters like
Reeses and Stickers and Twizzlers and those I'm talking to
indie dar the ones that maybe others have never even
heard of.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Now.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
I don't eat much candy, but I do make an
exception for sour Wild strawberry fish.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
These are by the brand Bond Bond.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
They're like if a red Swedish fish boned to sour
Patch Kid. They are so good and the sour BlackBerry
flavor is killer too, So spill the beans. What should
your fellow slices know about and try? Hit us up
on email let us know good game at Wondermedia network
dot com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven
two two oh four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
Rate and review slices. It's easy.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
Watch Becky Hammond get in the Dock treatment rating two
out of two hours.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Set aside for this one review.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
On the heels of winning a third WNBA title, Aces
head coach Becky Hammond has been announced as the subject
of a Dock from production companies SMAC and twenty.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Four to sixty three.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
A Variety exclusive teasing the film promises never before heard
audio diaries that will offer an inside look at Hammond's
life and career from player to MNBA coach to WNBA
dynasty maker. Consider us seated now it's your turn, rate
and review. Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow. Good game, Kate,
Good game to all the folks who went to No
(38:14):
King's protests this weekend. You the sitting President of the
United States posting an AI video of himself as a
king flying a jet that's dumping shit all over American protesters.
Every day we set the bar a little lower, and
somehow he still slithers under it. Good Game with Sarah
Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with
(38:36):
Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are alex Azie,
Grace Lynch, Taylor Williamson, and Lucy Jones. Our executive producers
are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez and Gianna Palmer.
(38:57):
Production assistants from Avery Loftus.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
I'm your Host, Sarah Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we recommend
you repurpose those No King's protest signs as window decorations.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Let Ola Gargle, D's Nuts.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
And Cankeles Mctaco Tits live on It's Monday, October twenty eth.
Then on today's show, we'll be talking to play by
play announcer and new lead boys for USA Networks WNBA coverage,
Kate Scott.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
We chat about how she got.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Her start calling games, the nuances and challenges of calling
different sports, and what she's doing to prep for the
new w job, plus making the leak official, birthing births,
and the wrath of the injury gods is fierce. It's
all coming up right after this Welcome back slices. Hope
(00:45):
you had a great weekend. Here's what you need to
know today. Four more teams clinched NWSL playoff berths over
the weekend, Seattle, San Diego, Gotham FC, and Portland to
join Orlando, Kansas City and Washington in the postseason party.
Seattle clinched with a two to one win over Utah
got them clinched by drawing with Racing Louisville two to
(01:06):
two Portland clinched with a two nail victory over Angel City,
and San Diego went above and beyond with a six
to one win over Chicago. Their six tallies the most
in a single game in club history, and their three
goals in the opening eighteen minutes the fastest three goals
to start a match in club history. This weekend's results
also saw the Houston Dash and Angel City both officially
(01:29):
eliminated from.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
The playoff race.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
That was a tough pill to swallow for ACFC fans
and players ahead of their final home game of the season,
but they still got to enjoy a special evening honoring
retiring players Ali Riley and Kristin Press. We'll have more
on that in tomorrow show. With seven teams in and
two alive but not yet advanced, that leaves one spot left.
It'll go to either the North Carolina Courage or Racing Louisville,
(01:53):
a team that's still looking for the first postseason birth
in franchise history. Will break down what needs to happen
for each to advance ahead of decision day on Sunday,
November two, the last day of the NWSL regular season.
The league first breaks next weekend for international friendlies before
resuming for that last regular season match day, which will
also determine the seeding for playoff berths three through eight.
(02:16):
More NWSL and an update on Trinity Rodman, who sustained
an injury during a Washington Spirit game last week, just
hours after she was named to the US women's national
team roster for an upcoming trio of friendlies. Ahead of
the Spirit's game against Orlando on Saturday, coach Adrian Gonzalez
announced that Rodman has been diagnosed with a Grade one
MCL spring and is sidelined indefinitely. Gonzales told reporters injuries
(02:39):
are never good, but quote, it's not as bad as
it could be now. While Gonzales declined to provide a
timeline on Rodbin's return, sources told Emily Olsen of The
Athletic that it's possible the Spirit star could return before
the conclusion of the NWSL season, depending both on her
recovery progression and how far her team makes it in
the postseason.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
On Sunday, it was announced that Robin will not.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Be replaced on the OS women's national team roster for
the training camp that begins today and the team's trio
of upcoming friendlies. Kansas City midfielder low Labanta has been
named as the replacement for Rain midfielder Sam Meza, who's
out dealing with a mild hamstring strain. And just as
we were celebrating Rodman appearing to have escaped major injury,
the injury gods struck again on Saturday night. Kansas City
(03:23):
forward and reigning NWSLMVP ten with Shaweinga, suffered an apparent
non contact injury in the first half of her team's
one nil loss to the Houston Dash, a loss that
ended the current franchise tying streak of seventeen straight unbeaten matches.
After being tended to on the field for several minutes
by athletic trainers, Sheweinga had to be carried off the field.
(03:45):
Heading into the game, Shaweena was actually listed as questionable
due to a knee issue, but after the match, Kansas
City coach Vlatko Andanovsky said Saturday's injury wasn't her knee,
but instead an upper leg injury.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Asked about the.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Decision to play Shaweinga, who leads the Golden bootstandings with
fifteen goals, and Danovsky told reporters she felt very good,
adding quote, this was a game that she should have
played about sixty minutes.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Obviously something happened. It's a freak accident. End quote.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
As of this recording, we're still waiting for updates on
showinga status, but we're sending her our best and hoping
for good news to the WNBA. The Las Vegas Aces
celebrated their twenty twenty five WNBA Championship win and third
title in four years with a parade through the streets
of Vegas on Friday and a celebration at Toshiba Plaza
that included performances from Ludacris Maya and Crime Mob. Asia
(04:36):
Wilson's parade fit definitely deserves a mention. She rocked a
T shirt that said Regression year on the back re
apostrophe aggression. It was a nod to a tweet back
in June from a sports reporter that read, quote, the
Asia Wilson regression was something I didn't expect to see
this season end quote. She also sported a Thanos Gauntlet
glove with the Infinity Stones on it labeled scoring title
(04:58):
five K for her five thousand career points. Defensive Player
of the Year MVP Finals, MVP and champ.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Tough during the celebration.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
When coach Becky Hammond addressed the fan, she said this
year's group was the easiest to coach of her four
years at the Helm, saying, quote, they came in and
worked their tails off no matter the circumstances. This is
one of the most resilient, high character groups.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
End quote. I'm just wondering if Becky can coach.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Me up on that dance move she busted out during
the Crime Mob set. We'll link to it in the
show notes in case you missed it.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
More WNBA.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
The Portland Fire expansion team made it official on Friday,
announcing the hiring of Alex Sarama as the franchise's first
head coach. Earlier last week, the team accidentally leaked the
news with some premature posts on both LinkedIn and Instagram.
Sarama most recently worked as an assistant coach with the
Cleveland Cavaliers, and prior to that, he spent time in
Portland as an assistant coach and director of player development
(05:54):
for the city's G League team, the Rip City Remix. Now,
he's perhaps best known for subscribing to an innovative training
system that's popular in European basketball called the constraints led approach. Now,
for this training goes beyond traditional drills and set play
quote unquote rehearsals, instead putting players in situations using constraints
on things like rules, time limits, steps, or space to
(06:16):
encourage in the moment problem solving and creativity. I read
up on it a bit, and the constraints led approach
actually sounds fascinating. It has big name supporters in the
LA Sparks Kelsey Plum and the mnba's Victor Wembin Yama,
and has been incorporated into training by winning teams across.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Multiple pro sports and leagues.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
But I do think it might require some buy in
and patience from players who might not be used to
deviating from traditional drills and practice techniques, especially when it
comes to embracing the science behind it and the language.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
That's associated with it.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
So here's a sample from Serama's Transforming Basketball website to
give you a taste of what I mean.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Rather than viewing offense and defense through the lens of
attempting to control every possession, transforming basketball at the kates
for a quote unquote principles of play based approach at
every level of basketball as opposed to focusing on rigid
game models such as continuity offenses, fixed sets, and automatic rules.
Transforming basketball presents the case for conceptual defensive and offensive
(07:15):
principles that align with an ecological dynamics rationale. Creative analogies
in the constraints let approach are used to shape such principles,
developing players that can be adaptive performers in any environment.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
That was about the least confusing paragraph on the website, and.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
That's not a judgment.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
I'm just saying it will take some time, I think
for folks to dive in and really understand what they're
trying to do with this constraints let approach. We'll link
to his website and a story from The Athletic about
the CLA if you want to do a deeper dive
to golf. South Korea's say Young Kim won the BMW
Ladies Championship on Sunday, marking her thirteenth overall title since
(07:53):
joining the LPGA Tour in twenty fifteen, but her first
victory in five years. The thirty two year old Kim,
who won by four strokes in front of a home
crowd at Pine Beach Golf Links in South Korea, became
the twenty seventh different player to win on the LPGA
Tour this year. Slice is one more fun note to share.
(08:14):
Do y'all remember way back at the beginning of the
NWSL season when we forgot to include Racing Louisville in
our season preview and heard about the omission from none
to other than the mom of rookie racing player.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Ella has Well.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
We're happy to share that Ella and fellow racing rookie
Katie Ocine are both part of the U twenty three
women's national team training camp that kicks off today. Congrats
on the call up, Ella, and congrats to your very
proud mom as well.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Hope she's still listening. We got to take a quick break.
When we come back.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
It's Kate Scott, who I caught up with last week,
keep it here, joining us now. She's the television voice
of the Philadelphia seventy six ers, the lone woman and
to do play by play for the NFL, NBA, NHL,
NCAA football, the Olympics and a World Cup. And she's
(09:06):
the first ever female voice to commentate in the Madden
video game.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
She was recently announced as.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
The lead voice for USA Network's WNBA coverage next season,
wife to Nicole Dog, mom to Piper, a UC Berkeley crad.
She wraps Philly Now, but she's a native of Fresno County, California. Fresno,
fres Yes, it's Kate Scott.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Hi King, Sarah, it is so good to see you.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
That might be my favorite intro all time. Fresn, fres Yes,
maybe it's great to see you.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
It's great to see you too.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
For those who can't see, because this is an audio platform,
Kate is wearing a shirt that has a baseball player
hitting a ball, but it's his touchdown, which I guess
sums up how women understand sports right.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Like me, Not yet, it's too tricky exactly.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
I thought you, of all people, would appreciate this shirt,
so thank you for noticing and bringing it to the airwaves.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
For those who can't sit official media.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Well, we're going to talk about how you somehow do
you call every single sport and how that blows my mind.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
But I want to start with the new.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
News because you've just added a whole summer of WNBA
vault here already packed NBA and more calendar.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
I wasn't working enough, Sarah. You know I wasn't working enough,
so I said, what else can I do?
Speaker 3 (10:16):
And You're right?
Speaker 1 (10:17):
So what feeling is taking over more right now? Happiness
or overwhelm?
Speaker 4 (10:22):
There was a little overwhelm at first, but Sarah, you
and I was looking back earlier today knowing that we
were going to chat, looking to see how long we've
known each other. We've known each other for eleven years,
and you and I were both covering I know you
still obviously are covering women's sports, but we met when
we were both covering women's sports, and I am not
here doing all the things you listed without women's sports.
(10:44):
I played women's sports growing up. I watched women's sports
growing up. I have always been obsessed with women's sports,
and I always hoped that I would be able some
way to get back to covering them now. I'm lucky
enough to be calling the NWSL right now in the
US women's national team for Westwood One Radio, so I
still have, you know, that toe in the soccer door.
(11:05):
But I love women's souper I'm not calling NBA basketball
now without all my years covering the incredible Pac twelve
RIP conference, right So, when versus and mostly all the
W games are going to be on USA Network. When
they came and said, hey, we know you're super busy
and maybe you won't be interested in this, but we
(11:26):
also think you're kind of obsessed with women's sports like
we are, and we want someone who's obsessed, who has
your excitement level to help lead us into you know,
our W time. So that's when I started listening, and
obviously we had a lot more conversations since them and
their excitement and their hopes for what they want to
(11:46):
do with this. That was Sarah why I said, Okay,
I'm going to work all year round again because I.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Have missed the W But also also how they see
this league.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
They understand it and they want to it the respect
and coverage that it deserves, and that's that's why I said.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Yes, Now correct me if I get the details wrong.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
But for those wondering, Versant is basically NBC Universal's spin
off of Sports Golf Channel and then things like usay
a lot of streaming, and they're just basically separating a
little bit some of their content. And so when you
hear Versant, sometimes you'll hear versust, sometimes you'll hear Ussay.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
In terms of the W coverage.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
It means mostly mostly USA network is where you'll be
able to watch.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
Yeah, very soon it will make more sense and we
will just be referring to it as Usay, the W
is going to be on USA starting next year. We
have more games than any other broadcaster. We have fifty
plus games. We're going to have Wednesday night doubleheaders, which
is where you'll be able to find me. I'll be
calling one of the Wednesday night doubleheader games all season long,
and then we have playoffs, and then we have a
(12:50):
lot of the finals games next.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Mazonk Yeah, so okay, we'll get back to the women's game.
But I want to tell folks, if they're not familiar,
how you got here. When did the announcer bug bite you?
Speaker 4 (13:01):
Oh, the natcherbug didn't actually bite me until after college, Sarah,
because you and I are old heads, so I know you.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Notice.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
I graduated from.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Cal back in two thousand and five, and even at
that time, I could count on my hand the number
of women who were covering sports in any form. I
did not hear a woman calling a game until my
junior year of college, when I heard my friend and mentor,
Beth Mowens calling a Mountain West football game on a
Friday night at ten o'clock on the.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
West Coast, and I was like, this is different. Why
is this different?
Speaker 4 (13:31):
And I didn't even realize why I was different in
first and then third quarter. Oh, it's a jet calling
a game. So when I was at school, I thought
sports reporting, maybe sports anchoring, writing, those were all the
things that I was learning how to do because I
thought that was going to be my ceiling. And then, thankfully,
right after I graduated, a man who I had worked
with during my time at CAL on like a link
Cal Highlight Show and stuff, got asked to produce a
(13:54):
season of high school football in the Bay Area. Said Kate,
I think you should do some play by play for me.
I said, Paul, you're full of shit. I've never called
it anything before, like I'm gonna suck. It's gonna be awful.
And he said, probably that's all the case. All the
dudes i'm asking have never called sports before either. If
you hate it and you suck, you never have to
do it again. But I think you're not gonna suck,
and I think you're actually gonna like it, So.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Why don't you try?
Speaker 4 (14:17):
And Paul was right I loved it. It was all
the all the emotions that I remember from playing sports.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Right.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
You can do all the prep and practice you want,
but once the game starts, it's a live game and
you just have to react to everything that's happening. So
the anxiety, the nerves, the excitement, all those things that
I had missed from my playing days which ended after
high school. And I thought, okay, reporting and anchoring and
writing those are all great and I would love to
do them. But if I can figure out a way
(14:43):
to do this, this is what I really want to do,
because this lights my soul on fire like I haven't
felt in a few years.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
It is incredible pressure, live in the moment, to react,
to understand what's going on.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
And thank God for Paul. We need people like that.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Because we do.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
You know, when I got started, and it always makes
me sound so ancient, but when you talk about it,
and it's reality. I grew up there were no women
anywhere doing anything in sports in Chicago. There was one
byeline that I could read, but I was focused on
what she was writing about. I didn't even really look
at the byline. And then even years later, when I
was in La trying to do comedy and thought maybe sports, oh,
sports would be interesting. I've literally spent my whole life
(15:21):
playing and talking about them. I've just never thought about
doing them for work. It was still a constant funnel
into sideline reporting, and I was like, first of all,
I don't look like Aaron Andrews. And secondly, there's no opinion,
there's no sense of humor. There's a lot more you
can do with sideline reporting these days, but back in
the day, I was just like, you get two lines
a game and none of its opinion.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
That's not me. And I want to be funny and
I want to be you know, all these things.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
And so it's wild how much the door is open
for so many different things that women can do now,
from top to bottom, every part of the game. But
it's fascinating to me the work that goes into it.
And you did do some other things along the way.
You worked your way up in the local Bay area
in Radio k and BR, which is the radio flagship
for them, the Giants, the forty nine Ers, the Warriors.
You were the first woman to be the station's full
(16:04):
time on air voice. And I was reading that and
thinking to the messages that I got as the first
woman on the air at ESPN one thousand in Chicago
and over document when we were both working in radio, exactly,
and there were women before me, but it had been
eleven years since the last one was on every day
and all I was doing was updates, nothing too fancy.
I just come on and say, tonight at seven, the
(16:24):
Cubs take on the Reds.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
You know it'll be this is how the black Hawks
played last night. Yeah, back to you guys.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Yeah exactly.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
And I still got treated like garbage and accused of
sleeping with everybody to get the job and gati out.
So I'm wondering how the locals treated you at that
first on air gig.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
Same, I'm flashing back to this now that is you
were also doing that when you and I met. It
was a brutal for six months, and I thought I
knew how brutal it was going to be, thinking this
is San Francisco, it's the Bay Area, it is peace
and love. I've been reporting on the traffic for five years.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
People are gonna know me and accept me. And that
was not the case.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
People were awful for the first six months, and I
still remember going into my program director is the person
who does the hiring at a sports radio station or
any radio station. And you and I have so much
in common, Sarah one. We love a challenge, right like,
bring a DF on. We got this, That's why we're
here now. And despite that, a couple weeks in, I
(17:25):
went into Hammer Lee Hammer's office and said, I don't
know if I can do this, Lee, like this.
Speaker 5 (17:30):
Is it really seems like everybody doesn't want me here.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
I expected there to be some people, but I don't know.
And today's credit. We're still in touch. Today, we still text.
He said, Kate, I know this is really hard. I
also know you can do this because we've been waiting
to hire a woman and there's a reason that we
haven't before, because we were waiting for the right one.
And shout out to gen Violet, the woman who was
(17:57):
in the room who was his assistant program director. It
was the two of them who came together and said, no,
she's the one. She came into the room as well
and they said, hey, we've got your back. We know
this is hard, right now, just put your head down
and keep coming to work each and every morning and
people are gonna come around. Yeah, And I'm so glad
that I had again, Paul offering me the play by
play opportunities, Lee and Jen saying we know this.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Is really hard, but you can do this.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
We all need those people in those moments where we
don't quite see it yet ourselves, we don't quite believe
because holy cats, twenty years later, look where.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
We are now, right, And it's nice when those people
get to take the credit. My person was Justin Craig,
who fought everybody else at he has been one thousand
to hire me and then was great about bringing me
in when I struggled or when I was having the
same thoughts about like I'm literally getting death threats just
for being on the radio for what's going on. Yeah,
and he was like, just take yourself back to your
athlete day. It's like, you're competitive, you want to win,
(18:50):
you want to be the best. Take that attitude with
you every single time you show up to work, and
then you're gonna be fine. People are gonna love you,
they're gonna figure it out. And not everyone did.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
But you know, come.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
And then not the people who believed in us do
get to take the credit. And the funny thing is
some of the people he fought with that didn't want
to hire me once things started to go.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Really well, and I was are they taking credit?
Speaker 4 (19:10):
Now?
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Of course they are.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
I have some of those too. It always makes me
like they're.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
The ones responding to emails like we saw something in Sarah,
and I'm like, you know, we knew.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
Before anybody else did. I'm like, sure they're sure you didn't,
Sure you did. But just to conclude that little story,
I'm so grateful. I look back and I was so
disappointed that I wasn't, you know, as you mentioned Aaron
Andrews at twenty two. But now I'm so grateful for
that really shitty six months because I have obviously experienced
that time and time again, taking on all these new
(19:42):
jobs that a woman had.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Never held before.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
And without that experience, I wouldn't have known one that
it was going to be really hard and two that
I could get through it.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
And I was going too.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
So grateful for that time.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
I also think it shouldn't be required, but when it happens,
it forces women to be even better at their jobs totally,
because when you know that, you can't make a mistake,
because not only will it be your mistake, it'll be
a mistake for the entire gender, because that's what happens.
It's the reason why women shouldn't have these jobs. Is
you personally for when you make a mistake, but also
your desire, Yeah, your desire to prove them wrong, your
(20:15):
desire to make sure that you are more prepared, more ready,
so that you could bring something that maybe even the
men aren't bringing because they can be more casual about
it because they're gonna they're gonna be fine regardless, and
you're gonna have to works on it. I think that's
why so many of the women in this business that
I've met are so much more qualified and so much
more impressive because of how much it took for them
to get that opportunity. So you're working in radio, You're
(20:38):
getting your sports itch, you're scratching that itch.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
You're you're making your way up.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Yeah, the sports are giving you the itch and you're
scratching it. But you're just a year into that gig
and you suffer a terrible accident and you and I
have never really talked about this, but you're riding your bike.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
You get hit by a car.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Can you tell us about working your way back from
that and how that then was this other hurdle of like, Okay,
I'd just gotten past some of the doubt, and now
here it is again.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Well, yeah, I caught me off guard there, Sarah. I
didn't ex compass to get into this. Yeah, it was awful.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
So I had finally gotten to the point, as you mentioned,
where people had gotten okay with my existence and my presence. Okay,
there's gonna be a chick on our sports radio station
and she actually seems to know ball and okay, she's
got a pretty good sense of humor. This will be okay.
And then yeah, a car ran a red light in
San Francisco and I was riding my bike, and I
was so fortunate that I just got my ultraumatic brain injury,
(21:36):
which is just code for a really bad concussion and
soft tissue damage and stuff. But I didn't break anything.
But I couldn't get out of bed for a month
because I had vertigo. Light and all the things that
you hear about with concussions and sounds was just I couldn't.
So I was just pretty much in a dark room
for a month. And of course the entire time that's
going on, even though I can barely sit up, I'm
(21:56):
freaking out that I'm going to lose everything I've worked for, right,
somebody's gonna take my job. I'm gonna get Wallypips. I
have to figure out a way to get back to work.
So much sooner than I should have. I started waking
up at five am, which is when my shift started.
At home, the sports update sounder would sound, and then
(22:18):
in my closet, in my tiny closet San Francisco apartment,
I would turn down the sound and.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Do a sports update.
Speaker 6 (22:25):
So just for yourself, just trying to get myself back
into the road, because it was still hard for me
to sit up, Sarah like, I had a bar in
my shower so that when I leaned back to wash
my hair out, I wouldn't fall over.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
So I should not have gone back to work, but
I went back to work. The accident happened October second.
I went back to work red round Thanksgiving of that year,
and in retrospect, that was too soon. I probably should
have waited till the new year. But I think that
just speaks to how badly I wanted this, and since
then I think back to that, not every day, but
from time to time that I may through that.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Right.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
So I'm going to make it through anything. So your
mean comments on social media, your mean comments in person.
I got hit by a car and so bring it on,
bro right, right, But yeah, that was that was a
really tough moment. And uh, one day I'll tell the
full story to everybody. But I think that's a pretty
good snippet there. Yeah, it was just another challenge and
(23:23):
hurdle that I had to get over that's.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Led me here, right, And I mean, brain injury isn't
just about the physical of getting up and being in
a bright room and the sound, but also just being
quick getting your brain back to working and being the
personality and all that stuff, which is a big part
of the job. And it's why you've been so successful.
You have called pretty much every sport there is. And
(23:46):
I listen, I am not being humble because why start now.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
I could never I am not built to call games now.
Granted I've never tried it.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Maybe I could do it, but it to know every rule,
every situation, every player, every bit of context. For me,
like sometimes I'm sitting around watching ball for fun. And
my husband, who doesn't work in sports but grew up
like most boys and men where people talk to him
about them every second of every day. And he's a
huge fan. He you know, played the video games growing
up and knows. He'll say something and I'll be like, oh,
(24:19):
I'm not watching for that, right, And I'll think to myself, like, oh,
that that's how you have to be watching. If you're
calling like every flag every why didn't they oh they
pulled this person, or that they didn't report that lineman.
Whatever it is, there's just eight million rules for every sport. Yeah,
how did you practice for games? And how did you
learn the nitty gritty details required to call every sport?
Speaker 3 (24:43):
It's it's very hard. It's a lot. It's a lot
of work in the dark.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Right. I like to say that the games are the
fun part. Oh my gosh, like it's an open book test, right.
I have my notes in front of you, but hopefully
most of the time I'm just looking up and calling
the game.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
But it is really how much work you're willing.
Speaker 4 (25:01):
To put in behind the scenes, going down the rabbit
holes on YouTube, on Reddit and trying to figure out
what does this.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
Word mean in a volleyball match?
Speaker 4 (25:11):
You know, that was the first sport I was asked
to call, of course, the one sport that I had
never played, and the pack to all needed help calling
women's volleyball, and of course you say yes and you
just figure it out.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
But I didn't.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
I knew the rules from a cheering my friends on
at a high school match sort of way, but not like.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
There's a bump and there's a set and there's a spike.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
And they're like, don't ever say that in a match, Kate,
please do not use those words.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Listen, this is what you need to say.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
But it is, I like to say, it's like studying
for any other subjects, right, if you want to learn
about history, if you want to learn about science or math.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
It's the same thing with sports.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
Thankfully now there's an Internet, so it's just how much
work you're willing to put in. But it is a
ton of reading, a ton of listening, a ton of watching,
and mostly just a ton of time that you have
to give in to really the same way it would
be playing a sport, right, learn about sport to the
point that you feel comfortable calling it.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Yeah, I mean I tell a lot of up and
comers like, the biggest thing to do is just to
constantly have content in your ears and in front of you,
whether that's reading or listening so that you become just
completely understanding of every tiny, nitty gritty linguistic specificity that
will tell someone that you don't really know ball and
(26:23):
its sports have their own language.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
And every sport has their own Okay, yeah, right.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
And you have to listen all the time to really
get how people talk about it and how the game
is called, and how people write about it. One of
the things I remember hearing about, and I was unfamiliar
with this is that for a lot of sports, they'll
take the people who call the games and before the
season starts, they'll send them out with the officials and
they'll have either meetings or events so that they kind
of learn what are they watching for, how are they
(26:50):
calling it?
Speaker 2 (26:51):
And that makes a lot of sense to me. Have
you done that?
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (26:54):
Thankfully, les have started doing that more. They didn't do
that always at the start of my career. But getting
back to women's basketball, Pac Trowlve of Women's Basketball, shout
out to Violet Palmer, one of the first women and
black women to be an official in the NBA. She
was in charge of officiating for the Pactrol So that
was the first time I experienced it, and she would
sit us down before the season and say, these are
(27:14):
our points of emphasis for the year. Let's watch some
video together, and if you have questions, ask me.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
And now, the NBA has.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
Broadcast meetings before the season starts. We just had them
a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Same thing.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
The NWSL Women's Soccer League, same thing, And it is
so helpful because yes, we know the rules, but we're
also not officials, right. I might have officiated under twelve
soccer a number of years ago, probably a little out
of date to what NWSL officials are looking at. So
it is so helpful because as a fan and as
a broadcaster, I may be looking at one thing and
(27:48):
it may be as simple as saying, okay, Kate, but
you need to look at the feet first, and then
the knees and then the shoulders and then pull back
and try to get the full picture and of my well.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
I hope they do those meetings before the WNBA next
season because a lot of officiating talk, and I think
they will be useful to understand why it's called differently
in college versus the pros, what they're looking for, what
they're being asked to call Okay, we're running out of
time here, so I have a quick speed round on this.
The toughest part about calling a basketball game, like what's
the thing that happens? And you're like, oh, straight, I
hate when I have to figure this out.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
M the speed.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
I don't think anything prepares you for the speed and
physicality of basketball. I know we talk about that a
lot with football. The the NBA is football without the pads,
and the guys are no breaks, and I think the
W is the same way. Now, Holy cats, those ladies
are so fast these days.
Speaker 5 (28:36):
Hockey game, you better have every single player memorized, Sarah,
because there is no time to look down, and everybody
has helmets on and everybody looks the same, and they
don't at least in football they have numbers on the
front and the back.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Most of the time. In hockey they just have you know,
a black hawk. Yeah they have a fly so far.
So you have to have everybody memorized or you're screwed.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Football.
Speaker 7 (29:00):
Oh hardest thing about football probably the amount of players
on a football roster, because there is so many, and
sometimes at the college level there's double numbers and guys
will sometimes switch numbers if they're on a kicking.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
Team, and don't get me started on that.
Speaker 4 (29:18):
But the amount of players you have to keep track
of when it comes to football, I think is the
most difficult part.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
I think also just knowing what the job of each
person on the line is, both defensively and offensively, so
you can really know if someone blew something or if
it was the fault of someone else, but it looks
like that hole was caused by this person. Like those
details I think are the top total on the line.
Speaker 4 (29:38):
And that gets back to right, what we were talking
about before is research. Right when I started calling high
school football, I thought I knew football, But now fifteen
years later, really digging in.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Oh, I see what the left guard did wrong there?
Speaker 4 (29:51):
Right when back when I was starting, I was like,
here's the offensive line, here's the defensive line.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
Like, let's dive back to you.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
What about soccer, oh.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Harson with soccer?
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Gosh, soccer might be the easiest one for me to
call because it's the sport I play the longest, and
they don't have helmets right so, and and usually people
staying in the same spot ish on the pitch, so it's.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
A lot of space, a lot of room to see
what's developing.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Yeah, so I.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
Think I think maybe for soccer, for me, it's knowing
when to lay out, which is something that you have
to work on.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
Right.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
I don't have to talk through the entire goal because
most of the time I'm calling it on television. Let
the pictures do the talking, which is so much easier
said than done when you're paid to talk. Is to
know when to shut up. So maybe that that's.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
The Just to ask my husband or anyone in my life,
I'm like, oh wait, I get paid for this.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
This is a good skill. Oh shut up for what? Okay? Okay,
not not always useful in life. Good to know.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
What do you think is to be the biggest challenge
when it comes to the new gig, the w gig?
Speaker 4 (30:57):
Yeah gosh, I mean after this season of free agency,
I think the hardest thing is going to be knowing
who's playing for what right and where are we and
what's happening.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
I'm so excited about this offseason, Sarah.
Speaker 4 (31:10):
I mean, I'm keeping all the things cross that the
CBA gets worked out. Everybody is happy enough, because nobody's
ever completely happy after negotiations. But I just hope that
everything starts on time. I hope it is a mad
off season, and I hope all the momentum that has
built over the past couple of seasons we just get
to build off of that, right because Wow, the league
(31:32):
is so incredible right now and it's just going to
keep getting better. So that's I think just figuring out
who is where is going to be the hardest part.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
I remember when we'd start a new season when I'm
back when I very first started in sports. I worked
at Fox Sports Net, which existed before FS one even
came around, and when a new season would start, one
of the first things we'd say ahead of like the
first opening weekend of whatever it was, was one of
the biggest stories, it's new faces in new places, faces
in new places. And either way, it was like, how
(32:02):
are you making sure you tell the story in the
highlight and give the context that this person used to
be here and now they're here or this is a
big deal and why And I feel like that's going
to be all of the w starting back up next year. Yeah,
so you're actually before then, you've got a whole NBA season.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
It's about to get the NBA.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
M NBA is what we usually call it here. Yes,
the m NBA and the Philadelphia Sixers job is a
big one. You're just a second woman on the TV
call for an NBA team, joining friend of the show
Lisa Buyington, who calls Milwaukee Bucks games. You won over
that city eventually, just like anywhere else, to take a
full time. But before I let you go, I do
want you to quickly tell the story about six Ers
star tyres Maxie how he got COVID, has TV aspirations
(32:43):
and ended up watching you on the call, and I
just love what it could mean. Not for Tyrese, although
I wish him luck in that, but just in general
what that illustrated in terms of what you represent.
Speaker 4 (32:55):
Yeah, it was super difficult when I get hired for
so many reasons. So I got hired September twenty twenty one,
going into the twenty twenty one twenty two season, which
it wasn't the COVID year, but it was the year
right out of COVID. So moving across the country, I'm
a gay chick from California.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
Everybody hates me.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
I'm replacing a dude who's been born and raised in
Philly called six Ers games for thirty years.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
Like good luck Kate again.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
And on top of that, I can't interact with the
players yet, I can't go to practice.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
We're calling our road games off of monitors.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
So all the things I would do to at least
start to try to settle in, I wasn't able to do.
One of the positives that turned out happening was all
of us were getting COVID during that time, and Tyrese Maxey,
who's now a superstar in the NBA and just going
to keep getting better and is our young future leader,
(33:44):
gets COVID and so he's listening to me calling games
and apparently something he heard excited him, and since then
he's been a wonderful support of mine. When the Mad
News came out last year, he's you know, sending out
supportive notes for.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
Me, which you know, Sarah like, yeah, when.
Speaker 4 (34:02):
NBA players are going to w games years ago, that
was a big deal, even though we didn't want it
to be a big deal.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
So when the star of the team.
Speaker 4 (34:09):
That you're calling, who everybody loves, says, hey, everybody, you
should listen to this chick and support her because she's pretty.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
Awesome, that went a long way. And I hope that
he's here for a long time, and I hope I'm
here for a long time.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
And yeah, he's He's just a phenomenal human and talent.
Shades of Steph Curry because you know, I got to
Curry cover stuph for a number of years on the
Warriors flagship, and I don't expect him to beat Steph
to be the greatest shooter of all time.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
Yeah, all those same vibes.
Speaker 4 (34:37):
He just gets all of it on and off the
floor and really excited to see where he and Sixers
go in the years.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
He seems like a very good dude.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
And the idea that he was like, I might want
to do this later, So I'm going to take notes
from Kate and watch how she does it, because I
like how she does this is great. And little boys
and girls everywhere turning on TVs that don't know any
different just think that that's what a basketball game sounds like. Oh,
this is my end team. And when I think about
growing up, and there wasn't a single woman other than
a lovable that was visible to me. Just the Bulls cheerleaders.
(35:07):
The entire Bulls run that I was obsessed with was
just the cheerleaders. And instead the kids growing up now
are just like, oh yeah, that's how games are.
Speaker 4 (35:15):
It's it's Kate, and I know our buddy Kylin mill
Is called a Bulls preseason game the other day. I've
known Kylin since she was out on the West Coast
for a little bit, so yeah, you know my saying, sir,
little by little one walks far. There's been a hell
of a lot of progress since you and I met,
and it's not where we want it to be, but
it's happening, so let's keep getting there.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
And I love that we're gonna have more intersections with
good game and Kate once the WNBA starts really quick.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
House Piper, my love of my pep.
Speaker 4 (35:43):
Piper is great, annoying as ever, But how are your
puppies our pity rescues that we love so much.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
Two of them are old and one of them is
a little punk and it's a great combination. Keeps me
on my toes, so old ones and a little young jerk. Kate,
you're the absolute best. I couldn't be happier. No one
is more deserving of all the success. I hope you
somehow find sleep and balance and Piper snuggles. Puppy snuggles
fix everything. But we're just rooting you on from AFAR.
Speaker 4 (36:10):
Thank you so much, Sarah, so great to see you,
and Alex and everybody.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
Thanks for listening.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Thanks again to Kate for taking the time and hanging out.
We have to take another break when we return. Sweet
Treats and Jock Ducks Welcome back Slices.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too, So here's our
good gameplay of the day. Follow Kate on social media.
We'll link to her insta in the show notes. It's
worth it just for her dog alone. Also, we are
knee deep into spooky season and the best candy day
of the year is fast approaching. So I want to
know the lesser known or small brand candy that you
(36:53):
swear by, not you know, the box office blockbusters like
Reeses and Stickers and Twizzlers and those I'm talking to
indie dar the ones that maybe others have never even
heard of.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Now.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
I don't eat much candy, but I do make an
exception for sour Wild strawberry fish.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
These are by the brand Bond Bond.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
They're like if a red Swedish fish boned to sour
Patch Kid. They are so good and the sour BlackBerry
flavor is killer too, So spill the beans. What should
your fellow slices know about and try? Hit us up
on email let us know good game at Wondermedia network
dot com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven
two two oh four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
Rate and review slices. It's easy.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
Watch Becky Hammond get in the Dock treatment rating two
out of two hours.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Set aside for this one review.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
On the heels of winning a third WNBA title, Aces
head coach Becky Hammond has been announced as the subject
of a Dock from production companies SMAC and twenty.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Four to sixty three.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
A Variety exclusive teasing the film promises never before heard
audio diaries that will offer an inside look at Hammond's
life and career from player to MNBA coach to WNBA
dynasty maker. Consider us seated now it's your turn, rate
and review. Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow. Good game, Kate,
Good game to all the folks who went to No
(38:14):
King's protests this weekend. You the sitting President of the
United States posting an AI video of himself as a
king flying a jet that's dumping shit all over American protesters.
Every day we set the bar a little lower, and
somehow he still slithers under it. Good Game with Sarah
Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with
(38:36):
Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are alex Azie,
Grace Lynch, Taylor Williamson, and Lucy Jones. Our executive producers
are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez and Gianna Palmer.
(38:57):
Production assistants from Avery Loftus.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
I'm your Host, Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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