Saying Yes to the Universe with Darian Jenkins

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're clapping
it up for Kelsey Plum and Nellie Corda's cameos and
Happy Gilmore too. It's Monday, July twenty eighth, and on
today's show, we'll be talking with retired pro soccer player
turned broadcaster Darien Jenkins about the NWSL's return to action,
the Rivalry weekend game she's most looking forward to, why
she thinks the Seattle rain will make a run up

(00:22):
the table, and the storyline she's keeping tabs on in
the second half of the NWSL season. Plus they're chanting
It's coming home. A mascot goes Gaga and I made
it to Providence.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Park and the Sports Bra.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
Finally a recap of my magical women's sports weekend in Portland.
It's all coming out right after this. Welcome Max Slices.
Here's what you need to know today. Let's start with

(00:58):
softball and the first ever Athletes Unlimited Softball League Championship.
Saturday's opener was spoiled by bad weather in Tuscaloosa, Alabama,
with thunderstorms delaying the start and then postponing the game
in the sixth inning.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
With the Talents up three to one.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
The game picked back up on Sunday morning, and the
Talents were able to hold off the Bandits to get
the win. Game two, just a few hours later, saw
another rain delay while it was scoreless in the fifth.
When the game resumed, Alabama alum Montana Fouts, who had
started for the Talents, finished off a shutout at her
alma mater, holding the Bandits to five hits while striking

(01:33):
out seven. Sidney Romero's game deciding home run in the
sixth was the difference, leading the Talents to a one
zero win and the series sweep, giving them the inaugural
AUSL Championship. It was also announced this weekend that the
Bandits Aaron Koffl was the most Valuable Player of the
inaugural AUSL season. Kaufele also won the league's Hitter of
the Year award and was named a member of the

(01:55):
AUSL All Defensive Team. To Soccer and an Electric Final
in the women's years that saw England defeat Spain in penalties,
repeating as euro champs and avenging their loss to the
Spaniards in the twenty twenty three World Cup Final. Mariona
Caldente scored first for Spain twenty five minutes in, but
Alicia Russo even things with itally at the fifty seven

(02:15):
minute mark. After regulation time ended at one to one
and a scoreless extra time, England ended up earning the
win in the penalty shootout three to one. English keeper
Hannah Hampton was the hero, saving two penalties, while Alex Greenwood,
Nef Charles and Chloe Kelly buried their attempts to get
the win. England manager Serena Veegman has now won the
Euros three straight times, once with the Netherlands and twice

(02:38):
with England. Spain's Ititana Bonmati was named Player of the
Tournament despite her team coming up short in the final.
The biggest winner of the Euros Women's footy, the event
set a new euro tournament attendance record of six hundred
and fifty seven thousand, two hundred and ninety one fans
to Hoops and some unfortunate news for the Golden State Valkyries.

(02:59):
The team announced that forward Kayla Thornton has undergone knee
surgery on an injury suffered in practice this week and
she'll miss the remainder of the WNBA season. We're wishing
Thornton a speedy recovery. She was enjoying a career season,
leading the team in points, rebounds, and steals per game,
and had just participated in her first All Star Game.
The Valkyries have split their two games since her surgery,

(03:21):
defeating the Wings eighty six seventy six on Friday night
before getting pounded by the last place Connecticut Sun ninety
five sixty four on Sunday. Elsewhere in the w the
New York Liberty seemed to have avoided a worst case
scenario after star Brianna Stewart left Saturday's game against the
LA Sparks just three minutes in with an apparent leg injury.
Sources told the Posts Madeline Kenny that imaging on Stuart's

(03:44):
lower right leg showed that she avoided a significant injury.
Brianna Stewart will travel with the team on their upcoming
four game road trip, but the team does plan to
give her some time to recover.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
The Liberty ended up.

Speaker 1 (03:54):
Falling to LA in that game one oh one ninety
nine on a Rakia Jackson layup at the buzzer second
Your Sparks standout Cameron Brink did not.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Suit up for that game, but She has.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
Been cleared to play the number two overall pick in
the twenty twenty four draft. Has been out thirteen months
after tearing the ACL and miniscus in her leftknee early
in her rookie season last year.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
We're excited to.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
See cam Brink back in action, especially as the Sparks
start to put things together. They've run their win streak
to five in a row. Final piece of news from
that Liberty Sparks game gotta be Ellie the Elephant, somehow,
topping all of her previous shenanigans with a Lady Gaga
inspired spectacle that included an elaborate entrance in an egg

(04:35):
channeling Gaga's twenty eleven Red Carpet arrival, and then a
show stopping halftime dance to a Gaga mashup.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
We'll link to that performance in the show notes.

Speaker 1 (04:45):
More w on Sunday and epic showing from Kelsey Mitchell
Worth mentioning she hit seven three pointers and put up
thirty five points to lead her Indiana Fever past the
Chicago Sky at the United Center ninety three seventy eight.
Eliah Boston had a fourteen point eleven rebound double double
in the win It was a game that saw both
Caitlin Clark and Angel Rees sitting out with groin and

(05:06):
back injuries, respectively. To the pool, where Canadian summer McIntosh
won gold in the four hundred meter freestyle. On Sunday
at the Swimming World Championships, Lee Bingie of China took
silver with a late charge, leaving Katie Ladeci to settle
for bronze. Something to keep an eye on as the
meat continues. US swimming officials acknowledged on Sunday that some
members of the US team had come down with acute

(05:28):
gastro enteritis at a training camp in Thailand prior to
arriving in Singapore. They wouldn't say which swimmers or how
many total fell ill. Finally, in tennis, even though Venus
William's run at the DC Open came to an end
with a defeat at the hands of Magdalena Frek on
Thursday in the round of sixteen, we won't have to
wait long to see Venus play again. She's made it
known she'll play at the Cincinnati Open in August, and

(05:50):
we could even see her at the US Open if
the USTA awards her a wildcard entry slices I'm back
from a busy weekend in Portland and after just a
few days in the Pacific Northwest. I'm basically a tree
hugging bike riding lumberjack made up primarily of salt and straw,
ice cream, Ruby Jewel ice cream, sandwiches and Portland pino.

Speaker 2 (06:12):
Y'all. I love Portland.

Speaker 1 (06:14):
I had only been there for weddings before, but this
time I really got to explore and it was a blast.
The event I was attending was called the Epicenter Women's
Sports Global Somebody was put on by RAJ Sports, who
are the owners of the Portland Thorns and the new
WNBA expansion team, the Portland Fire. So they partnered up
with Nike and some venues and brands across Portland.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
To showcase the city, discuss the future.

Speaker 1 (06:35):
Of women's sports in Portland, and harness the brain power
of athletes, execs, sponsors and journalists, bringing them together as
they get.

Speaker 2 (06:42):
Ready to launch the Fire.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
So on Friday, I moderated a panel with Fire and
Thorn's owners Alex and Lisa Beathal, the Nike EVP of
Global Sports Marketing, Ann Miller, and Nike President and CEO
Elliott Hill, and we talked about the plans for both teams,
the new, first of its kind joint practice facility that
they're building taking advantage of the current moment, and how
Nike and RAJ Sports are working together to make Portland

(07:04):
what they're calling the global epicenter for women's sports now.
When I heard about their plans for the Fire and
Thorns to have joint spaces in the new practice space,
including a dining hall for all the athletes to hang out,
I immediately suggested a reality show because I would love
to see all the WNBA and NWSL players kicking it,

(07:24):
sharing tips and secrets, making friends, making more than friends.
So make it happen, RAJ Sports. I want to see that. Also,
it was cool to hear that they involved Sophia Wilson
aka so Smith and a few other Thorns players in
the process of things like picking paint colors and amenities
and stuff for the locker rooms and other facilities. I
also moderated a panel that included former pro runner turned

(07:47):
coach Shalaine Flanagan about the physiology of female athletes and
the need for more research and better understanding of the
female body, and I thought it was cool that she
talked about how beyond just educating her team on nutrition,
she's actually giving hands on instruction, having them to her
house for cooking classes, and even putting out three cookbooks
to help her athletes understand the importance of what they

(08:07):
put in and not shying away from the carbs and
the fuel that they need, especially as their body changes
due to natural hormonal shifts around child bearing age. If
you haven't read it, I highly recommend the book Good
for a Girl by Lauren Fleshman. I learned a ton
about the ways that we blame women athletes for natural
changes and cause long term damage and injury in the

(08:28):
name of getting smaller instead of stronger, and that conversation
with Shelanne and others reminded me how useful it was
to read that book and to better understand how women
athletes work. Also friend of the show, Annie Costabo was there.
She facilitated a panel conversation that included Don Staley. You'll
hear some of Don's words of wisdom later in the show.
Before the conference on Friday, we got to take a

(08:49):
tour of the Nike World Headquarters, which is this insanely
beautiful campus built right into the forest. There were like
snails crossing our path, and trees and lakes everywhere, and
some wildly cool design elements and memorabilia everywhere you look.
So in the giant Serena Building, all the buildings are
named after famous athletes, you could see Serena's catsuit from

(09:10):
the twenty eighteen French Open, her twenty fourteen US Open
Championship trophy, and cool things like this relaxing space full
of family portraits and the wallpaper there was designed to
look like repeating Wimbledon trophies. In the Lebron building, there
was a case full of Lebron shoe prototypes that never
made it to production and sale. And there's a basketball
hoop on the ground floor surrounded by all these floor

(09:32):
inlays that mark every one of his shots, both makes
and missus en route to his first thirty thousand career points,
which was really cool. If you can make it out
there and get a tour, I highly recommend a trip.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
It was very cool.

Speaker 1 (09:44):
Also, the Nike employee stour with some crazy discounts wasn't
half bad either. The rest of the weekend included this
gorgeous dinner at the Portland Japanese Gardens with top female
chefs and wine and tea producers from the area, a
trip to a beautiful property in the Willamette Valley wine
country for a gorgeous brunch, and and i'd at Providence
Park for a thorn Seattle rain friendly to help the

(10:05):
players get ramped up and ready for the start of
the second half of the season. It was super fun
to see Sam Coffee, Jordan Heidema, Olivia Moultrie, me Official
and others all in action. And I got to watch
alongside a scout for the OSM International team, which was
very cool. Also, I finally got to see that the
rumors about Portland soccer fans are all true. This was

(10:26):
an exhibition friendly and it was more electric than most
every NWSL game I've ever been two, besides maybe the playoffs,
So shout out Portland, what a scene. I also finally
got to make it to the sports Bra Women's sports Bar.
I got to meet friend of the show Lindsay Schnell
in person, got to take in all the insane memorabilia,

(10:46):
the great food, the vibes. Totally packed house, So congrats
to front of the show Jenny Wynn on a truly
cool spot. Also got a shout out the folks behind
Bump set Dyke who were recruiting players with a flyer
on the backroom door.

Speaker 2 (11:00):
I did not meet them, but shouts to you on
that name. It is too good. Also, speaking of.

Speaker 1 (11:07):
I got to give a shout out to a slice
I met at the conference who offered up an epic
entry into the life will surprise you files She was
telling us this story. She was married to a man
for years, always believed herself to be straight, and then
one day she woke up and realized she wanted to
leave her husband and be with women.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
But before she.

Speaker 1 (11:23):
Could get up the nerve to tell him, he sat
her down, put out a beautiful cheese plate, and told
her that he wanted to end things.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
Because he was gay.

Speaker 1 (11:32):
So he's now a de facto uncle to her kiddos
and they all lived happily ever after. Brian gay shit,
Welcome to the party. I want to just thank everyone
who organized a great weekend. I was really grateful to
experience the incredible Portland sports vibes that I've always heard about,
and I'm really looking forward to seeing what's to come
for the Fire and what will likely be a very

(11:54):
busy couple months as the team needs to play a
little catchup. They had a slow start. They just got
started working with interim president Claire Hammill. They still need
to hire a GM. The expansion draft is just a
few months away, and it's really yet to be seen
how the RAJ Sports Group is going to balance their time, energy,
focus and resources between the two teams. And also I'm
curious how the WNBA and NWSL might monitor that joint facility.

(12:18):
As I told several RAJ Sports folks this weekend, women's
sports fans are rooting for them. They are as loyal
as fans come, but they are sensitive to people getting
it right. And when things don't work out, a lot
of folks blame the product or a lack of interest,
but fans of women's sports know that if you do
it right, people will show up, buy stuff and spend money.
And yeah, the fans are tough, but that's because they

(12:39):
want to see team owners succeed.

Speaker 2 (12:41):
And as much as pretty much.

Speaker 1 (12:42):
Anywhere else I've ever been, the fans in Portland want
to see these owners succeed. We got to take a
quick break when we come back my delightful chat with
Darien Jenkins. We caught up with her last Monday ahead
of the Women's Euro semi Finals.

Speaker 2 (13:02):
Joining us now.

Speaker 1 (13:03):
She's a retired soccer player turned broadcaster for CBS Sports,
Does Zone and MSG. She played professionally for the North
Carolina Courage, helping them to an NWSL championship in twenty eighteen,
as well as the ol Rain, Kansas City Current, and
Orlando Pride and pro teams in Australia and France. A
four year starter and national champion with the UCLA Bruins
and former chief of staff Forgot Them FC. She's addicted

(13:25):
to funky pants and crop tops. It's Darien Jenkins.

Speaker 2 (13:28):
Hi, Darien.

Speaker 3 (13:29):
That was a hell of an intro. I loved that.

Speaker 1 (13:32):
Hello, I love your funky pants.

Speaker 2 (13:35):
Thank you two spot for those.

Speaker 3 (13:38):
You know what gets me is Instagram shopping. Like the
ads on Instagram. I'm a sucker for a couple clicks And.

Speaker 1 (13:45):
Does it make you feel guilty? Because I always feel
guilty that they got me.

Speaker 2 (13:49):
It doesn't mean I don't buy it. I'm just like, oh,
they got me, they knew how that really knows me.

Speaker 3 (13:54):
They know me too well.

Speaker 1 (13:57):
So you're covering soccer in a lot of places, just
start by telling everyone where they can find.

Speaker 3 (14:02):
Your work well, primarily with CBS Sports. They have the
Glazzo Network, and I'm super happy to be with them.
I honestly pinched myself that that's how I transitioned out
of playing and fell into Glazzo Net and that that's
what started up at the same time. But yeah, shows
like Morning Footy, Attacking Third, sometimes score Line, any sort

(14:25):
of CBS game coverage that covers the NWSL, that's where
you'll find me. And sometimes calling games with the NWSL.
You'll hear my voice with MSG or NWLCBS Sports and
then yeah, a little bit of sideline with his own,
and I'm on a couple couple other shows. I'm trying
to just expand and say yes to whatever the universe

(14:45):
brings my way. So yeah, it's been fun.

Speaker 2 (14:47):
If Footy is there, Darien is there?

Speaker 1 (14:49):
Yes, Yes, Okay, Before we get to the biggest NWSL storylines,
I want to chat about how you got into our
TVs and phones and all those places talking foot You
played for four NWSL teams, and when you think back
to each place, what stands out to you about the
different cultures or resources or experiences. Is there anything where

(15:11):
you're like, Wow, it's fascinating to look at each of
them as four distinct places.

Speaker 3 (15:15):
One hundred percent. I mean, I was also playing pro
at a time where it's funny when I meet rookies
or younger players now, which I do because I have
so many friends still that still play, I'm like, you
guys have no idea how good you have it. Each
year the league grew exponentially. You know, it's become now
a bad business decision to not invest in women's sports.

(15:37):
But I think when I was playing, it was in
that time where it wasn't cool necessarily and people still
were very unsure. So facilities wise, each year each team
I kind of look at it, I'm like, oh, it grew,
It got so much better, It got more professionalized, especially
when I came back from playing abroad. But yeah, each
team just like the style of play, the culture. That's

(15:59):
probably the biggest thing I miss about playing is like
you jump into an immediate group of sisters essentially with
every team, and that was consistent throughout every single club
team I played for. But yeah, the environment changes, coaches
are different, but it makes you grow and honestly kind
of fearless to travel and like jump into new things,
even this new career path that I'm on. I think

(16:21):
going through soccer, especially playing for so many different teams
like that in the US and abroad, I'm like kind
of fearless when it comes to immediate change and like
having to start over. It's exciting to me.

Speaker 1 (16:32):
And yeah, your shows are sort of like a new team,
and especially some of the shows you do that have
different pieces that come in and out, different parts and
analysts that are on different days. It kind of means
that you're just swapping teammates and you're figuring out how
to make it work with different people. It sounds like
you played forever ago based on your description of like
these youngsters don't know how good they got it.

Speaker 2 (16:53):
But you just retired a couple of years ago.

Speaker 1 (16:55):
In twenty twenty three, you went to work for Gotham
FC for a year. Tell me about going from the
field to the business side. What were the challenges in
the highlights you only spent a year doing the work there,
But how was it to suddenly be on the other side.

Speaker 3 (17:09):
Well, it was a huge change. I knew when I
was playing, I always had side hustles. I was really
interested in the front office space. I was always asking questions,
and like I said, yeah, it wasn't forever ago, but
the game has grown so much, the investment has grown
so much, and so I helped Nationwide, which is a
big league sponsor for the MVU Cell, developed this program

(17:30):
about getting athletes to have real work experience or see
what it's actually like, because there wasn't there isn't much
to help people transition out of playing, especially for Rooman's
sports as scary. So that was something I thought, Oh,
this is very close to my heart. I'm very passionate
about this. Maybe I can be somebody that is one
of the few players that transitions into a front office

(17:52):
position on the business side, maybe gets their NBA while
they're doing this. It just makes it better. Is it
that hard to run a team? This was my mindset going,
Is it that hard to have a franchise? It really
that hard? I was a very nice It's very difficult.
There's a lot of moving parts, money is limited, it's
it has to go to so many different places. So

(18:14):
when I got the job as chief of staff, it
kind of it made a lot of sense to me
at the time because my ambition was I want to
be president of a club. I want to be GM
Yael Averbush. I loved watching her growing up when I
when I before I was playing pro, and I got
to train with her in the off seasons, so I
get to go work under her, which was great. It
didn't I think because it was so fresh off of retiring,

(18:37):
it was a little it almost like hurt to be
a game days still and not be a player that
was doing the tunnel walk and being with my teammates
and in that sort of routine of a game day
as opposed to being on the front office side. So
I think I kind of knew, like I think I
need a little bit of breading room from this. Yeah,
just because I retired due to an injury that I

(18:59):
had forever ago, I kind of knew my timetable when
I would have to step away from the game. So yeah,
I think it was a little difficult on that front.
But I learned so much, so much I take with
me today, especially on the business development side and how
intricate that world is. But yeah, while I was doing that,
CBS reached out for me to come do some TV

(19:20):
work with Champions League, and I was like, why not,
this seems whatever. I didn't like doing media stuff when
I was playing, but now I'm not really worried about
what people are thinking of what I'm doing when I'm
not on the pitch, and never what I have thought
i'd turn into this, but I'm really happy that it did.

Speaker 2 (19:38):
I want to talk.

Speaker 1 (19:38):
About the transition to the front office because we've had
several former players, and particularly on the soccer side, Merrit
Matthias and Lauren Holiday folks talking about how necessary it
is for former players to get into decision making roles
at the league to help make sure that the league
is centering players, to help make sure that toxic cultures
are done rid of.

Speaker 2 (20:00):
Like it's really important.

Speaker 1 (20:01):
So moving forward, what would you like to see the
league do to make sure that players are better able
to transition to life after they finished playing, whether that's
working in the space and taking on those very important
roles in the front office or entering a different career path.
Is that something that the league should be having a
hand in.

Speaker 3 (20:17):
The league and individual clubs. If you have players that
are even interested and oh, in the off season, I'm
going to be here, Can I look, Can I at
least shadow at work? Or I think, truly, I think
that a way for this to help because that is
something I'm still very passionate about and want to keep
involved in, especially with the Players Association the Black Ones
Players Collective, which I'm a board member of. Is if

(20:41):
players want to go back to school or get some
sort of degree, there should be a way to work
with clubs like there are in regular jobs that supplement
your ability to further your education, whether it's degrees or certifications,
whatever it may be, because that is an asset to
the club. If the club is loyal to a player
and helping you build that transition, build your network in

(21:04):
that way, it's going to come back and build that
relationship with the club because there's still not that much
trust between the players and the NWUSL. That's just very real.
I think we're seeing that all across the board and
women's sports. So to do something like that, that's actually
helpful because what we just got four one ks three
years ago, two and a half years ago was the
first time you were able to actually start saving money

(21:27):
in the end of USL. So to me, I think, yeah,
that's incredibly important. I love hearing that Merit and Lauren
are two of the people too advocating for that because
what else are you supposed to do. We're still not
at a place where you're making our million dollars money, yeah,
to be able to do anything with it. In fact,

(21:48):
you're still Even when I retired, I was like, I've
probably got a couple of months and I need to
get a job. And that's just because I was very
frugal while I was playing. But yeah, I think it's
super important in a way for the league to build
that trust.

Speaker 1 (22:03):
You mentioned that you weren't too keen on being a
member of the media, but all of you come around
eventually after you get enough time away from the field
or the court. So you moved to the media side
in twenty twenty four, you're now talking about friends, former teammates.
How have you found that challenge of critiquing folks that
you love but you have something to say about what's
happening on the pitch.

Speaker 3 (22:25):
I haven't found it that difficult. Anybody that knows me
knows that I'm quite direct, and the way that I
talk about the game, whether I'm on TV or I'm
I mean, calling a game is different. Being a color
analyst is a little different. But we've talked very directly
about oh this is what I saw. I look at
it as being in a locker room watching film with people.

(22:46):
This is exactly what I'm seeing. This is what needs
to change. There's really personal about it. I mean, that's
the beauty of the game and that it's the world sport.
Everybody can see it, interpret it in whatever way. And
I think what bothers me that I really try to
be good about is with women's sports. A lot of
the time, I think they try to make it very
fluffy and everybody's friends and just it's still a sport.

(23:12):
It's a badass sport. In fact, the women are the
ones that are hitting harder, getting up quicker, not complaining,
not battling on the pitch yet no flopping, and the
game should be talked about that way, like it is
bad ass what these players are doing on the pitch.
We don't have to make it seem like we're little
girls running around on the field and everything's good and

(23:33):
dandy and it's about looking with some certain type of way. No,
it's you're there to battle, like these are something these
women have done, these women and players have done for
twenty something years. So I think that's how I approach it.
So I don't have much issue with critiquing or calling
out anything. I'm very respectful. It's just it's a game.

Speaker 1 (23:56):
You know, as a former player, it probably comes naturally
to critique the on field to play, and you're an
expert in that. How do you feel as you continue
to expand as a broadcaster and analyst about talking about
issues off the field. You know, some of the long
term issues in the NWSL came from a lack of
media coverage, a lack of oversight, you know, the problematic coaches,
the facilities not being good enough, the toxic cultures. Without

(24:20):
media being able to be inside and understanding that that's
going on, they can't report on it. So sometimes it
requires players, current or former, to be the ones to
speak up. Do you feel comfortable yet speaking on the
stuff off the field or is that something you leave
to more investigative journalists.

Speaker 3 (24:37):
No, I absolutely feel comfortable. The way that I look
at it is I mean, look at my track record
of coaches I've had, and you can see the shit
that I've had to deal with and go through, and
thank god I've had players around me, especially when I
was younger, that advocated and I was I'm so blessed
that I was surrounded by groups of women that did

(25:01):
not back down to toxicity, to lack of HR, that
built this programming around the league and for teams specifically
to have safety nets so this stuff doesn't happen anymore
around sexual harassment. And I think that that's given me
so much confidence from a very young age and especially

(25:21):
just my background of where I've grown up and standing
up against racism and sexual harassment that I've experienced even
while I was playing for clubs, and I have no
problem calling those out. Especially I feel I have a
duty to do it based on my platform, based on
my playing career, based on how I look the people

(25:41):
around me that look up to me. I think players
in media talking about like a Merit Matthias A, Kelly O'Hara,
Sam Ewis, who I absolutely love that there are. These
players have such a following, have made such an impact
on the fielder using their voices off the field to
call these issues out, because when you're playing, you don't
always feel safe to do so that retaliation is so

(26:03):
so scary because you never know it runs so deep.
So the fact that we have these platforms now and
there's eyes on women's sports, and that we can call
it out, whether it be just on social media, reposting
what players are saying, talking about it on our own channels,
using the networks that we're on in order to do so,
I think is the biggest way to affect change. And
that's actually what I think has kind of brought my

(26:25):
journey into the media space, especially being so camera facing.
I find that to be truly kind of what the
universe has put me here to do. So I actually
think what I'm that's what I'm meant to be doing
right now, is calling these issues out and affecting change.

Speaker 1 (26:42):
It's really good and necessary. Let's get into this NWSL season.
Games are going to start back up after a month
plus long break, and the Kansas City Current have been
the top of the league, the league's best all season.
They still sit a full eight points ahead of second
place Orlando Pride. Any reason to believe they'll slow down?

Speaker 3 (27:02):
No, No, they haven't. They haven't proven any I love
to joke that last year at Kansas City where the
team that was gonna let a team score around them,
but they were going to outscore you. And this year
they've done so much better defensively, so I would be shook,
shook if somebody knocked them off the top of the table.
I don't see them slowing down anytime soon. It's a

(27:24):
complete team now, yeah, yeah, it looks like the team
you want to play for. Peripherally, like if you're looking
at all the teams, you'd be like, I want to
play for a Kansas City.

Speaker 1 (27:34):
Just five points total separates teams two through seven, The Pride,
San Diego, Wave, Washington Spirit, Portland Thorne, Seattle Rain, Racing Louisville.
They're all boom boom, boom, boom boom. Who do you
think is going to emerge as the strongest in the
second half.

Speaker 3 (27:48):
I'm looking at Seattle Rain. I think the addition just
if you wear tes back, yeah, I think they're a
bit of a dark horse. If you wear tes back,
me official is going to be there playing in that
number nine position, And I think that adds so much
depth to that team that they kind of sneakily are
gonna push their way past everybody because they're not the flashiest.

(28:09):
They have Olympian dolo. Yes, they have Maddie Donneen, who's
brilliant young rookie, but we haven't seen them get the
best out of the individuals yet, and I feel like
the additions of Sophia ware ten official Go Bruins, by
the way, is gonna dominate the second half the season,
so I'm excited to see it. I think Laura Harvey's
gonna ball out.

Speaker 1 (28:30):
There's a lot of talent in that group, but I'm
fascinated by the idea of the Rain being the ones
to emerge on top. Gotham currently occupying the eighth and
final playoff spot.

Speaker 2 (28:40):
They're sitting at five five and three.

Speaker 1 (28:42):
What do they need to do to make their record
match the talent that they have on the roster.

Speaker 3 (28:48):
Play to their talent strengths. I think you look at
who they have. They've Jays, They've Midge purs back and healthy.
They have Vest there who's literally carrying the team, the
style of play that they're playing, the players that they have,
let them go one v one, let them cook, just
put numbers in the box. I think we saw Gotham,
I think overcomplicate a little bit in the first half

(29:10):
of the season, and I want to see simplification. And
that's how you're going to dominate with this team. Because
they're also coming from an identity change of being the
underdogs and the nwsls winning a championship, making it to
the quarterfinals last year, and now I think it's like, no,
everybody knows you're good now what So that's what I'm
that's a week, so let's get it. Let's get back

(29:31):
to the roots.

Speaker 1 (29:32):
Yeah, you mentioned Ester Gonzales. She's got four goals in
four games at the Euros. At the time of this taping,
she cooled off a little bit after a super hot
start to the NWSL season, but still leading the Golden
Boot based on that early hot start. Do you think
she's going to return invigorated from her great Euros performance
or is it possible she comes back fatigued.

Speaker 3 (29:53):
It's tough because the World Cup we saw players come
back very fatigued, and she was on the World Cup
winning team. I'm Spain or who I think are gonna
win the Euros. They're they're dominating. But with that, having
that confidence that she's had with Spain bringing it back
to Gotham, who have been working during this entire break,
hopefully building those those players around her to be confident

(30:17):
up to her level. I think it's gonna be a
huge asset even if it's just her being on the
bench because she needs the rest. That level that she
brings being a World Cup champion, potential Euros Euros winner
is a huge asset to the team. But I was
actually talking to Jen Beattie about this and that adjustment
going from tournament play where it's you don't have off days,

(30:40):
especially if you're on the Spanish national team coming back
to Gotham with a long NWSL second half season to go,
that fatigue is real. It's gonna be down to management.
But I think just how important she is to that team,
even just her energy on the bench is enough to
have a good effect for that team.

Speaker 1 (30:57):
She's gonna sit down her teammates and ask who wants
to step up and feed her like Alexia pitaeis because
that has been a dynamic duo. Are there any other
storylines from the Euros that you're watching in terms of
the impact they might have when the NWSL's back up.
I mean, and Katrin Berger might be flying high no
matter how many weeks after that save she just made

(31:18):
that was absolutely out of control. So I think there's
some players putting up some highlight performances that might come
back feeling themselves a little or to your point, might
come back also a little bit tired.

Speaker 3 (31:28):
Yeah, well we can stick with the Gotham theme. And
Katrin Berger, I mean German Player of the Year. I
gonna say she could be Player of the Euros just
based on her performance because she kept that team on
lock throughout this entire tournament, but especially that last game
that is like highlight career save that needs to be
like hung in the louver. But yeah, I think that

(31:50):
even with her coming back to Gotham, that's just another
asset for them that they need in the second half
the season. They just, like I said, everyone's kind of
found them out predictable, so we need to see something else,
another layer to that team.

Speaker 1 (32:05):
And another Gotham player, Jess Carter, making some news because
of the racial abuse that she's suffering over there, shutting
down her social media to not have to address it.
But England also made a statement that they're going to
stop kneeling at Euros because they believe that that decision
is not helping the fight, potentially bringing more abuse to
Jess and others. Do you agree with that decision to

(32:26):
stop kneeling and say we need a different answer, or
does it feel like you're capitulating somewhat to the folks
who insist on perpetuating the abuse.

Speaker 3 (32:36):
It's a bit of both to me. The kneeling aspect,
Like I said, I'm a member of the Blackman's Players
Collective and we've had multiple conversations about this. The kneeling
has become performative in a way to me, because yes,
you can continue to do so. I love that publicly
you're using your platform to stand up to racism, kneel

(32:58):
to racism. What else? What else are you doing?

Speaker 2 (33:02):
What?

Speaker 3 (33:02):
What are you actually doing that's tangible that's causing this
to stop, or educating people or banning fans out of stadiums,
get them out of standing, and you should not be
allowed at games if you're spewing racial abuse. It's an
interesting time to do that to me, because if you're
doing it for a game in the tournament, you should

(33:24):
continue to do so, especially sticks kneeling with your teammates,
supporting your teammate that is going through this racial abuse.
The timing's interesting to me, But the overall sentiment I
have about kneeling now is what are you actually doing?
It was like when people posted black squares it's what
are you What are you actually doing? You're not You're

(33:45):
not causing anything to happen. You're not taking an effect
in a way that's actually going to make change. So
I don't love the timing of it, but I support
Jess Carter and maybe this is a conversation that she
had and is what is necessary for her to continue
playing this tournament.

Speaker 1 (34:01):
Well, gotha'ms certainly going to have a lot of catching
up to do from all the different members of the
team that are out at the Euros. And again, I'm
very interested to see how Estare comes back and if
she gets back into scoring scoring, scoring, because again she's
in the top of the Golden Boot race. There's a
couple of players right behind her, and then Angel City
rookie Riley Tiernan fourth in the Golden Boot race right now,

(34:23):
is buried seven goals this year. How do you describe
the start that she's having to her pro career.

Speaker 3 (34:29):
Incredible? I love her story. She was a tryout player
and was balling out so much that Sam Leady, the
interim coach, was looking at her in film and just
realized how effective she was for the team they signed her.
There was a vacancy at that nine position, which as
a rookie, you just have to shoot your shot. You
got to be on agious and bold, and that is

(34:51):
exactly what she is. So she comes and balls out,
she shoots her shot. I think she even does think
sometimes that you know, when you're a player and you
get in your head a little bit about, oh, this
isn't a this isn't a likely goal scoring opportunity, this
is a low percentage shot. I don't think she cares.
I think that's such a beauty of being young, and
she will take the shot and it's worked out so

(35:12):
well for her, and she's a brilliant finisher. I love
her hold up play. I think we've seen her grow
a lot throughout the first half of the season. But yeah,
she's been absolutely electric to me, my rookie of the Year.
I think she's got it on lock already.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
Can you explain to the listeners what you mean by
hold up play?

Speaker 3 (35:29):
Hold up play? When you're a nine, A lot of
the time you have limited touches on the ball because
you're so high up the field. You don't want to
come too deep in crowd space, so you want to
post up against a defender, and you have to be
so strong and balanced and clean on the ball because
you get probably the least amount of touches next to
a goalkeeper on the field. So when you do get it,
you're giving your team the opportunity to get higher up

(35:51):
the field and build up. And then when you lose,
it's it's the absolute worst. You just feel like everyone's
like shaming you.

Speaker 1 (35:57):
Yeah, you just made us sprint up to get this
play going. Yeah, and yeah, you were all defended like
the treading water of soccer. How do you tread water
long and exactle to let your teammates make the rush
up and start an attack in the box?

Speaker 3 (36:10):
Exactly. So I've seen her grow in that way a lot.

Speaker 1 (36:12):
So this year we're going to see the first ever
so called rivalry weekend. It's set for August eighth through tenth.
We've got the Cascadia Rivalry, the oldest series in the league,
the Portland Thorns versus Seattle Rain, and then we've got
the socol Rivalry, Angel City versus San Diego Wave, and
then an East Coast battle. We got gothamaf C versus
Washington two veteran clubs. Which of those are you most

(36:34):
excited to see.

Speaker 3 (36:35):
I've got to go with Cascadia rivalry. That is what
I loved playing in when I played for Seattle because
you get a play with against Portland Thorns at Providence
Park and how loud that stadium is. I think goes
so underrated because when you're on the pitch, you can't
hear each other speak. On the field. You can see

(36:56):
maybe your coach yelling at you, you can see somebody
waving their hands trying to give you direction, but it
is so electric that you have no idea what's going on.
You're just going off of vibes and what you see
as an individual on the pitch and who has the
best chemistry. So to me, that has so much history
with it as well when you look at the legends
that have played for both clubs and made it what
it is that I think we're even seeing kind of

(37:16):
an evolution of it with these new very young teams
and new players coming in. So I love it. That's
still got to be my number one rivalry, And that
be so funny though I think they're forcing rivalry. We
get a little bit because they're trying does everyone Yeah,
does everybody have one? But it It'll become more catch on,
I think as the years go by, but that one

(37:38):
is definitely number one.

Speaker 1 (37:39):
Yeah, we just need a little more, you know, hair pulling,
last minute goals, teams meeting in the championship a couple
different times for a to really set in. But I
do love that Portland and Seattle are separated by just
a point coming into the second half, so they have
a lot on the line too in that rivalry. These
are two teams both fighting four playoff spots. Give us
three storylines you're going to be watching as the games

(38:01):
start back up and the teams start to push towards
the postseason.

Speaker 3 (38:05):
I'm looking to see North Carolina turn their season around.
That's been a very inconsistent team, had difficultly scoring goals.
But I love Shaw Nayhouse. I love him as a coach.
I think they have all the talent that they need
on the team, but it needs to change. The other
is Seattle Rain. I'm so looking forward to the additions
of Sophia a werta me official what that's going to

(38:27):
do for this team, how they're going to continue to
build and make that playoff push, because that middle of
the table is so unpredictable and so close, and last
but not least, Kansas City continuing to dominate. Who can
knock Kansas City off of the top of the table.
We have not seen it yet, Orlando Pride. I don't know,

(38:52):
but I want to see if Kansas City can maintain
that kind of perfect season that they're having all the
way to a championship.

Speaker 1 (39:00):
You mentioned North Carolina. Right now, they're on the outside
looking in. They have the same number of points as Gotham,
but they're currently in ninth due to I believe goal differential.
So of the teams who are currently outside playoff position,
North Carolina, BAFC, Angel City, Houston Dash, Chicago Stars, and
Utah Royals who may be outside of North Carolina, Since
you already showed a little confidence in them, do you

(39:21):
think might be able to move their way up in
the second half?

Speaker 3 (39:25):
My Angel City girls, I think they got it in them.
That's a team that super young, very very bright, getting
used to another new coach. I mean, they've been dealing
with a lot. But you have an Alyssa Thompson, you
have a Sibluaru who's coming back. You have a Riley
Tearnan who's balling out. Kristin Press, even if she only
plays twenty minutes, is a legend and so effective. So

(39:47):
to me, that's a team that has always put up
a fight and been in sort of a similar position
going into the middle of the season. But I think
they have the players now, a coach, the personnel to
actually make that push and get a playoff position. So
I'm going with the youngins on that side.

Speaker 1 (40:05):
Because you mentioned coaches, I have one last question for you.
There is so much coach movement in this league. Chicago Stars,
for instance, Ever since the exit of toxic and problematic
coach Rory Dames, they have been cycling through head coaches.
Do you think that this league has a problem finding
and hiring and paying talent so that they stick around,

(40:29):
or finding good enough talent that they deserve to stick around,
or do you think it's a problem of impatience that
they don't allow people to be in position long enough
to create a system and start to employ it.

Speaker 3 (40:42):
It's all of the above and the biggest issue for me.
We spoke earlier about how important it is to have
players in front office positions, in decision making positions, in
positions of power, because we've experienced this. We're the experts.
We know what trickle down effect to the player's side.
The coaches, I don't think the league. I don't think

(41:03):
in women's soccer there has been enough education, opportunity, a
pathway to build a good coach unless you've already been established,
and there's only so many, especially with the growth of
this of women's soccer, that we're seeing the effect of
the poor investment in developing good coaches, especially in the US.

(41:27):
I mean, most of the coaches for in the NWSL
are not from the US. That's just a fact, and
you look at coaches in Europe it's the same issue.
So to me, if we're going to talk about the
cycling of coaches on and needs to be better, and yes,
the pay I'm absolutely sure needs to be better, just
based on my own experience from playing and being in

(41:48):
this league, but the development needs to be there. We
can't expect the game to continue growing and not have
people that are solely responsible for developing these players that
work so hard to get to this point in their career,
whether it be literally having emotionally intelligent people in coaching
positions that know the game, will that know how to lead,
that are not toxic or harassing players. So it's a

(42:12):
massive issue that I could probably go on and on about,
but to me, it's starting young, creating those pathways where
we coaches like a Bevannez who was given a pathway
into coaching with the Jill Ellis Foundation, we both got
our coaching license and she's who made me realize I
don't want to be a coach. So I was like, damn,
that's passion. You're passionate about this town. I am not.

(42:34):
But there just needs to be so much more of
that and checks and balances when we get people that
want to be coaches so that they're not we're not
putting people in positions of power that should not be there.

Speaker 1 (42:48):
Yeah, very true. It's all part of this changing ecosystem
where you imagine when teams start to put the money
into new facilities and get these new flows of cash
from massive expansion fees and growth of the league, they'll
start to recognize when those things start to settle in
that the game, the play, the outcomes, the wins will

(43:11):
also have a very long term effect on their fan
base and the support that their team gets. So making
sure they make good choices at the top and making
sure they have coaches that can lead them to wins
is going to become as much a priority as all
the other stuff that they're trying to figure out right
now as this league continues to grow. Darien, it was
so great to talk to you. Look forward to watching
more if you're coverage and appreciate the time.

Speaker 3 (43:31):
Thank you so much. I love this.

Speaker 1 (43:35):
We got to take another break when we come back.
I've been meaning to ask Misha Alex y'all got any
kids welcome back slices. We always love to hear from you,
so hit us up on email good game at wondermedianetwork
dot com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven

(43:57):
two two four fifty seventy.

Speaker 2 (44:00):
We don't forget to subscribe, rate and review.

Speaker 1 (44:02):
It's easy watch South Carolina head coach Don Staley's Pearls
of Wisdom rating ten out of ten examples of coaching
off the court review. I loved the piece of advice
that Don gave the RAJ Sports folks during her panel.
She told them how she's earned fan support at South
Carolina and why they should be sure to include Portlandian's
in the whole process of building the fire Take a lessen.

Speaker 4 (44:24):
If you build it, they'll come. It'll come in the
most unlikeliest town. Like who would think that Columbia, South
Carolina would would lead the nation for the last ten
years with all the successful programs that there are across

(44:45):
the nation.

Speaker 2 (44:46):
But we did it by just.

Speaker 4 (44:50):
Really because and there's no money for marketing, Like there's
no money a whole lot of money you're work for
women's sports on college campuses, there's not We lead with
our fans and it's they created. I mean, if you
can't win at home, you're not going to be able
to win a national championship.

Speaker 3 (45:11):
And they created that. And I had when.

Speaker 4 (45:14):
I first got to South Carolina, I didn't even think
about fans.

Speaker 3 (45:18):
I just thought about the product.

Speaker 4 (45:19):
When the product on the floor that people could really appreciate.
But then they did the work and it was like.

Speaker 3 (45:26):
Word of mouth.

Speaker 1 (45:27):
Don also shared the advice that she recently gave a
top exec on how to get team buying. Here's Thatt
and he was like, well, why how are you able
to get people to work hard?

Speaker 4 (45:39):
And then Unison right, he asked me this question like
three different times.

Speaker 3 (45:45):
So finally I asked him, I was like, well, do
you know your employees.

Speaker 4 (45:50):
Do you know if they're married, do you know if
they have children, do you know where their birthdays are?
Because ultimately, he's got a goal, he's got to he's
got a goal to reach. Is that and sometimes people
will will work for you versus the goal and they
will accomplish the goal. But if you don't know them,
like if you don't personally take the time to know them,

(46:13):
and you're always you know, just on a deadline and
trying to meet your mark, it helps to really get
to know people that are working for you, that are
working for your company, because if you don't, you know,
sometimes you'll meet that mark. Sometimes you can move people

(46:34):
to a place where they're doing it out of the
kindness of their hearts for you ranther than a company.
There's nothing better than to do it for a person
that really cares about you. So take the time out
to get to know your people, know your teammates, get
to know the people that you are.

Speaker 3 (46:52):
You are working with or people are working for you.

Speaker 1 (46:57):
Honestly, that advice is applicable across every single company and industry.
So something for us to all hear. Now it's your
turn rate and review. Thanks for listening slices. See you
tomorrow for my chat with the Seattle Storms.

Speaker 2 (47:09):
Gabby Williams.

Speaker 1 (47:11):
Good Game, Darien, Good Game, England, You Portland, being so
far away, I already want to go back. Good Game
with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in
partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find
us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers

(47:34):
are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are
Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rutterer. Our
editors are Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and Gianna Palmer.

Speaker 2 (47:46):
Our associate producer is Lucy Jones.

Speaker 1 (47:49):
Production assistance from Avery Loftis and I'm Your Host Sarah
Spain

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Saying Yes to the Universe with Darian Jenkins