July 22, 2024 • 35 mins
Hi! We missed you. Was your weekend awesome? Our weekend was awesome. In this episode, we give you the rundown on FOUR (!!!!) different historic performances at WNBA All-Star in Phoenix, the women’s basketball legends who got their well-deserved flowers, and what it was like for Sarah and producer Misha to meet IRL for the first time!
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Check out the trailer for In Case You Missed it with Khristina Williams, coming soon!
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Follow Sarah on social! X: @SarahSpain Instagram: @Spain2323
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Follow producer Misha Jones! X: @mishthejrnalist Instagram: @mishthejrnalist TikTok: @mishthejrnalist
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, the Show that
Wants to Hug our Uber driver for asking if we
were playing in the WNBA All Star Game this weekend
on today's show. Yes, it's all things WNBA All Star
weekend records broken, ACL's torn Flowers, given party thrown, we
were there, a time was had. We'll tell you all
about it, but first here's what you need to know today.
(00:27):
Lots of WNBA news from the weekend. As mentioned. WNBA
All Star Game on Saturday night at the Footprint Center
in Phoenix and the WNBA All Stars beat Team USA
one seventeen one oh nine. Same thing happened last time.
This was the format for the game and we're sending
off Team USA with the l again. Arique Agunbawale went
(00:49):
off a WNBA All Star Game record thirty four points,
all of them in the second half, including eight three pointers,
and she won MVP Honors. Records broken by the Rooks
to Fever. Rookie Caitlin Clark's ten assists the most ever
by a rookie in an All Star game, and sky
forward Angel Reese recorded the first rookie double double ever
(01:10):
in an All Star Game, finishing with twelve points and
eleven boards. Friday night, it was the Skills Competition and
the three Point Contest, and Atlanta dreamguard Alicia Gray had
a historic evening. She's the first ever to win both
in the same year. Girl got a bag too. We're
gonna get into that later. Heading into that competition. By
the way, the biggest storyline we talked about right here
(01:32):
on Good Game was that both Caitlyn Clark and Sabrina
yan Escu declined invites from the league to compete in
the three point Contest, and Clark was asked about that
in a press conference. Here's what she had to say
about choosing to sit out.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, honestly, like I think this ress, like had been
planned basketball for a year straight. Like's, It's not an
easy thing to just show up to and shootout in Iraq's.
Has something I've ever done before.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
It's not something I've had a lot of.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Time to practice. I've been focusing on helping my two
win games.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
I think, just you know, enjoying this break.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
I think there's gonna be plenty of opportunities for you
to do that as I'm boying it. But at the
same time, like the field, the shooters that we have
in the competition are really good. They're all like mere
forty percent shooters, So I'm excited for them. I'll be
there supporting them and it'll be fun. But yeah, I mean,
I think the biggest this is the thing on us
for me is just like I need a break. I
need to take some time to myself to enjoy what
I want to do, and at times that can be
(02:24):
tough be the physician that I'm in, but I think
he should be healthiest from.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
His own A little more WNBA news. So Connecticut Sun
Power couple do want to? Bonner and Alyssa Thomas are
on the cover of Slam magazine. Google that check that out.
You can even get it on a T shirt if
you want. And speaking of couples we love, on Friday,
Brittany Grinder and her wife Cherrelle announced that their baby
bash Raymond, was born on July eighth. Now, it's been
(02:48):
a difficult last couple of years for them, and that's
putting it very lightly. So to see the joy on
Beg's face playing on her home court during the All
Star festivities, knowing that she's about to head to the
Olympics and rep the USA and now soaking it all
in while she's got a newborn back home. We're just
so happy for the couple and sending Brittany all of
(03:10):
our love and also, I guess we got to call
her Pops now. Shout out to my girl, Tarika Foster Brasby.
She got this great SoundBite from BG for CBS Sports
over the weekend.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
There's probably one other job that you're about to get
into that is really hard and really scary.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
You're about to be a mom.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
How is that feeling, Pops?
Speaker 5 (03:31):
Oh, let me get it together. About to be a pops?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Pops it is, We got you. BG Commissioner kat the
Engelbert said ahead of Saturday's All Star Game that the
WNBA is considering expanding regular season to forty four games
for next year's season. Now, forty four games per team
are the most that would be allowed under the current
Collective Bargaining Agreement, and the number of games has grown
over the years, from twenty eight in the first season
(03:55):
in nineteen ninety seven to thirty four in two thousand
and three, thirty six two and forty games both last
year and this year, so we could be getting more
games next year as well. Kathy Engelbert also talked about
efforts to continue to globalize the game and mentioned Europe, Asia,
Mexico City, and the Middle East as places that the
WNBA might hold future games. The league previously has held
(04:18):
a couple exhibition games in Canada. They're also talking about
potentially having contests in neutral sites in the US to
test out potential expansion markets. So you remember on the show,
we reported last week that the WNBA is set to
receive nearly two hundred million dollars a year as part
of new broadcast rights. Now, this is part of a
larger seventy five billion dollar NBA deal that was negotiated,
(04:41):
and we're still waiting for the official final word on
all of the numbers and the deal. But the head
of the WNBA Players Association, Terry Jackson, spoke out with
some concern that the league is still being undervalued. In
a statement, she said, in part quote, we look forward
to learning how the NBA arrived at a two hundred
million dollar valuation if initial reports are accurate or even close.
(05:02):
Neither the NBA nor the WNBA can deny that in
the last few years we've seen unprecedented growth across all metrics,
the players continue to demonstrate their commitment to building the brand,
and that the fans keep showing up. There is no
excuse to undervalue the WNBA. Again, she is absolutely right
and we are looking forward to the final numbers on
that and how that valuation came to be. Remember, in
(05:23):
that initial agreement, there was still potential room for more
money because it did not prevent other deals and other
partnerships from taking place. So we're gonna wait for the
final word on that one. We also got some NWSL
news over the weekend. The Portland Thorns have announced that
interim head coach Rob Gail has been made the permanent
head coach. Now you remember he began serving as head
(05:44):
coach back in April when then head coach Mike Norris
was reassigned as the club's technical director. And things have
been looking up for the Thorns ever since since Scale
took over. They've moved up the NWSL table and they're
currently sitting in fifth in golf. Chinetti want to say
on of Thailand, recorded back to back Birdie's and won
the twenty twenty four Dana Open on Sunday. That is
(06:05):
her second career LPGA title. Coming up our organs, our soup,
our headaches seem maternal, and our voices are several octaves lower.
Misha and I talk about hanging out in Phoenix at
the All Star weekend. Next. Okay, let's get back into
(06:27):
the WNBA All Star festivities because we were there, and
when I say we, I'm not using the royal we.
Mesh was there too, and Mish and I got to
meet in person, So Alex, I'm gonna put you on
some sort of trip. We're going to take a team
field trip sometime, but for now, it was so nice
to meet producer Mish in person and uh, have a
(06:47):
couple adult beverages, watch some good basketball. We never partied
at the same time because we're on different schedules. Meisch
takes a disco nap like a young person and then
heads back out. And I got a power straight through
because if I sit down, my body's like, oh, we're done,
thank you. Okay, go to sleep. Now. Well, let's start
with Saturday. It's game Meiche. We were in the Gatorade suite.
(07:07):
Shout out to Gatorade and my whole women's Advisory board
for being so excited to meet Mesh. They had all
listened to the show and they're like, oh, it's Mesh
from the show. No, oh, no, you and journalists they
all even knew their social tag so that game. Cheryl
Reef called it probably the greatest spectacle in our league's history.
And I mean, multiple records broken, a sold out venue,
(07:31):
pit bull at the half. We'll talk about that later.
I mean, it did go off, meiche.
Speaker 5 (07:36):
It did go off. It absolutely went off.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
It was everything and more for me, hands down.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I'm not the first person to say this the best
All Star experience I have ever personally had. If you
can't tell by my voice, it's probably gonna crack a
couple of times, folks.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
And that's it, is it. We're both a little lower,
a little low lower than when we left.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
A bit a bit, but it was freaking fantastic.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
I mean, Arikae Gumbawale, she did exactly what I predicted.
Ye I don't want to sound like and know what all,
but I was right, y'all. Like I chatted with Rebecca
Lobo last week and we kind of predicted this would happen.
Speaker 6 (08:13):
Take a listen, but the last time in twenty twenty one,
when the Olympians played the All Stars and Arique went
off and the All Stars won the game. That was
pretty cool too, because it's always more fun of course,
when it's competitive and the teams are playing really hard,
and that game was a situation where that was the case.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
A Rika is an interesting one to say when they're
competitive and it matters, because we've seen her speak out
about the Team USA roster and kind of saying she
pulled herself out of the process because she didn't think
it was fair or an honest process for whatever reason,
and she's gonna want to go off in this game.
I could see Arigae wanting to get MVP, wanting to
(08:53):
beat Team USA and prove some sort of point. So
that's a good one to bring up. We might see
that again. And for those who didn't get what I
was saying there, Arique has been in the team pool
for the US team the last two Olympics cycles, didn't
make the team in twenty twenty one, and then a
bit after the roster was announced this year, she said
(09:16):
publicly she took her name out of the mix and
said there were quote unquote politics in the selection process.
This is the second time Arikee has not made that
team and then gone on to become MVP in the
All Star Game. Going off. Last time it was twenty
six points, which was impressive enough. This time thirty four.
And this is one of those games when you look
(09:36):
at the box score afterwards, it's not the same as
when you're there in the building, not at all. Watching
her just drain three after three after three, hands in
her face, falling away didn't matter.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
You know what I knew it was going to be
a special night is when she she was coming right
to left down the court, took a one footed off
her left foot, one footed shot from the top of
the key switch. I say, yeah, this is you know,
we just didn't sit back, eat the popcorn and enjoy
this moment because she's about to do some give spectacular stuff,
really truly well.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
And zero points in the first half. So when they
came back out at the half in the beginning of
the third, she started to get really hot and they
looked like they were feeding her. I turned to you
and I said, Okay, do you think they had a
conversation at the break about getting her the MVP? Because
the thing about All Star games is there are so
many talented players out there. Everybody wants their time, everybody
(10:30):
wants their shine, and they all kind of know that
the fans are there to see their respective favorites, right,
So when you've got a game where someone gets really hot,
it does sort of have to be a team decision
because in a regular game, you want to win no
matter what, so you're feeding the hot hand. But in
an All Star game, it's about showing everybody's skills. It
got kind of clear to me quickly that the rest
(10:52):
of the team was on board. In fact, after the game,
Kaitlin Clark said they tried to sub me in for
a reega in. I was like, absolutely not. You got
to do that. Pep're in there letter cook.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
When you see somebody doing things like that, you don't
want to stop the spectacle. Like you mentioned, the fans
are there for a show, and if you know somebody's cooking,
why would you not continue to feed the hot hand.
I also feel like at the All Star break, these
players are very, very tired, even the ones that are
in the game, and so I'm not mad if I'm
necho or I'm one of the older you know players
on that team and Arique's cooking, please make us all
(11:23):
look good. We're all gonna get this win together. We're
all on the roster.
Speaker 5 (11:26):
Come on. So but she had a special night for sure.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Literally, letter Cook, make us all dinner and we'll just
sit here and watch because we're tired. We're tired. Also
worth noting they want to win that game. There is
pride on the line for Team WNBA versus Team USA,
and for the second straight time, the WNBA All Stars won.
You and I were talking before I had Team USA
all the way. Yeah, I thought after they lost, getting
(11:51):
ready for the Tokyo Games, they would just have this
chip on their shoulder of like, yeah, we got to
prove we know we're gonna go out there as the
favorites for gold again. We know we're one of the
most nastic teams in Olympic history. But we still got
to get this w before we leave. And instead they
are getting on that plane to Paris, perhaps not as
happy as they could be, perhaps feeling a little bit like, oh,
(12:12):
we did not want to enter this Olympic outing with
a big fat l just before we left.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Yeah, but you know, if you really sit and't think
about it, Team WNBA was coming in. Of course, there
was an actual game to lose, but they had nothing
to lose. It was all fun and games for them.
For Team USA, both teams in the first half looked
a little tight. I think there were nerves, but Team
USA looked stiff. They looked like they were, you know,
giving up shots. They weren't playing as loose just because
you know that that pressure's on. It's real, it exists.
(12:41):
And they were partying. As we all know, they were
out there in the streets.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
We'll get to that. We'll get to them being out
in the streets because we saw them and we were
with them. But I also think they might have been
trying to run plays, work on stuff that they've been
working on in practice, like really prep in a way
that Team WNBA isn't prepping. And TWNBA knew they were
about to take a month off, like this is it
on my body? I get a month off, whereas Team
(13:04):
USA is like, man, we're gonna keep grinding. So all
that is taken into account when we see that WNBA win.
But speaking of wins, Arique, after that incredible performance, we're
all kind of holding our breath to see what kind
of trophy she gets because there's been a lot of
talk in the past about the trophy size, and I'll
(13:25):
tell you what. We all know, this size matters. And
when Kelsey Plumb had that little itty bitty trophy that
looked like something you'd have to save up a bunch
of tokens or tickets at David Buster's to get out
of ice the glass case in front, we were all like,
what the hell is that thing? And so thankfully this
year was a nice appropriately sized glass trophy plaque, whatever
(13:49):
you're gonna call it, for a rique well deserved, well deserved.
Speaking of well deserved, I think we all need to
hold the dollar real quick from Alicia Gray because she
went off on Friday and it paid off. Gray got
two thousand, five hundred and seventy five dollars from the
league for each of her wins for the three point
(14:10):
and the skills. That's per the WNBACBA, but she also
got fifty five thousand dollars per event from AFLAC as
part of a partnership with the WNBA Players Association, So
one hundred and ten thousand dollars from AFLAC in addition
to what she got from the WNBA. Folks, we did
the math for you. Her base salary from the Dream
(14:31):
this year is one hundred and eighty five thousand dollars
and on Friday Night she won one hundred and fifteen thousand,
one hundred and fifty dollars. That's sixty two percent of
her season salary in one night. Talk about it. Come
up for Alicia Gray. We love to see it. And
Mesh was also really fun. She was wearing her goggles
and he rode kind of goggles. Yeah. Holly Road kind
(14:54):
of called her out and was like, those are non prescription, right,
and she was like, oh, secrets out right. I wear
them because I got poked in the eye before and
now it's just kind of my look. But they cut
over and Alicia's former college teammate Asia Wilson was wearing
the glasses the goggles in solitude court side while watching,
and then of course Asia said after the big wins,
she's not paying for another dinner, and I don't blame her.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Yeah, when somebody comes up big like that, we're all eating.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
That's the whole point, right.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
We were we were with you shooting in the gym. Literally,
Asia was with Alsia Gray shooting in the gym. So
I'm just I'm ecstatic for her. And she's so sweet.
That's the one thing I love about her. Everybody saw
that viral video of her and Angel Reese at the
scorer is table too, just cheesing.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
I love it all.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
She's such a sweet human, so southern.
Speaker 5 (15:38):
I love it. I can appreciate that very much. But big, big,
but she's a.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Killer, big big, but she's a killer because she went
out there and the Power of the Dream. It's not
just a documentary, y'all. It's Alisia Gray, Power of the Dream,
taken both on Friday night, one bummer mesh and like,
thankfully you and I were not affected, but a lot
of people were that, like somebody hit refresh on our
(16:03):
entire societal technology and it really focks some people up
for this weekend, And one of them was Erica Wheeler
of the Fever. She was supposed to compete in the
Skills Challenge on Friday, but her flight got canceled, so
Kelsey Mitchell, also of the Fever, stepped in. She was
already in Phoenix as part of the All Star Game
and competed. But that's just a bummer, Like you have
to hope. I know Eric has been an MVP in
(16:23):
the All Star Game, before and she's had her moments there,
but you just don't know how many of those you're
gonna get and for it to be like, imagine how
pissed we are when we're just like going to a
girl's weekend and our flight gets canceled, Like you're going
to potentially win fifty five thousand dollars, yeah, and your
flight doesn't go like that was a real.
Speaker 5 (16:40):
Bummer, big, big, big bummer.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
And not to mention just the fact that we all
talked about it, this was probably the best All Star
that the WNBA's had, and to miss out on that
is also just a huge, huge letdown.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
So so sorry, Erica Wheeler. Hopefully you get.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Another opportunity to do this even bigger, even better next
year or in the future.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
The only person who potentially had a worse weekend was
Aubrey Plaza. Now I'm not laughing because it's funny, but
it's kind of funny only because how are you going
to show up to the WNBA All Star as an
actress and fan and be the one who tears your
acl Like you got people out here fighting for money
and prestige and MVP awards and they're okay and you're
(17:20):
just playing Knockout at the Phoenix Mercury New Facility and
you tear your ACL. H the Parks and rec star
of TV and film, one of my all time fabs
who is straight up a vibe at all times. Whether
she's given double middle fingers on the jumbotront or not,
she's pretty much always a vibe. But she literally tore
her ACL midweekend. So like we saw her in a
(17:43):
bunch of places, she was doing a podcast with Sue
Byrd and Meghan Rapino. She was court sided for the
Skills and the three point. At some point between when
we saw her Friday night and Saturday Night's All Star Game,
we look courtsied and she's got crutches and a brace,
and Sue Bird is changing her ice pack and we
find out via the broadcast and Ryan Roco that she
(18:04):
tory cl.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
That's the kind of stuff that makes women's sports so spectacular,
because when have you heard a storyline like that at
the at the NBA All Star Game?
Speaker 5 (18:17):
You don't, because you just don't.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Aubrey Plaza that you're gracing the WNBA with your presence again,
because I also love everything.
Speaker 5 (18:24):
She's ever been in.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
But yeah, you're you're not even spectating, right, Just sit still,
don't do nothing, you know what, you know what, Props
to her forgiving it her all.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
It sounds like she was playing more defense in in
that knockout game than you didn't.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
She was walking somebody from getting the ball she was.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
I see it for her, I do.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
That's right, that's right. One last thing about that Saturday night,
A lot of people were mad about Pitbull being the
halftime performer, which, like, to be honest, I was kind
of surprised about. But then it made sense and I
was thinking about it. I was like, wait, I'm really
enjoying this, and I'm like definitely shouting along with him fireball,
and I'm like, Hi, I'm the problem. It's me? Is
this me not getting that it's like contributing to anti
(19:04):
feminism because there's like scantily clad women dancing with them
and I don't know what it is, amish. Maybe you disagree,
but you know, there's a hip hop squad for the
Phoenix Mercury and there's men and women dancing, and it's
reminiscent of the dance squads at NBA games that sometimes
feel problematic, but they feel sort of like empowered, And
I don't know if that's the vibe I'm getting a
(19:25):
lot more these days. Is it doesn't feel like objectification.
It feels like empowerment. And it might just be the
lens through which I'm seeing things, but to me, Pitbull
and his dancers it didn't feel like, oh, this is
inappropriate for a women's event. It felt like it's pit Bull,
it's mister Worldwide, and he's got dancers that are hot
and that are dancing. But I don't know if I've
(19:46):
just gotten so like, is this internalized misogyny where I'm
just conditioned to see this bullshit and I'm like, yeah,
that's cool.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
You know, Sarah.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
I think the environment had a lot to do with it,
because personally, pipple was it wouldn't have been my first choice,
but I enjoyed myself and when he did all of
You or whatever.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
The day of that song is last Yep with Neo.
Speaker 5 (20:03):
I loved it. I ate it up. But to your point.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
About the scantily glad women, I feel like the difference
is the gays, right, It's not so much the male gaates.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
It's a bunch of lesbians and they're watching them.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Folks dance and it's adoration and it's pure joy and
it's not you know, the objectification we're used.
Speaker 5 (20:18):
To, you know what I mean. So I think that
had a lot to do with it.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
But overall they were just talented also, and I think
that always, you know, brings general spirit of appreciation for
whatever is going on.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Yeah, yeah, I mean I think I see both sides
for sure. I understand people who had a problem, and
I also understand people like me who were like it
was just a good time. Plus, you know, Unfortunately, Brandy
Carlisle just wouldn't hit the same way, and that would
have been my top choice.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
I don't know if that would have I don't know
if that would have been not.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
For the All Star Game, but shout out, Brandy Carlisle.
Give me, I love you so much.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Give me Victoria Monet next year, WNBA, give me Victoria
Monet and we'll be in business. Or Kailani, that would
be fantastic. You want to make some money there you go.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Thursday and Friday, there were some good parties. To get
to me, she and I were ships passing in the night.
Did you have a highlight for any of the parties
that you went to aka I got you in.
Speaker 5 (21:11):
Yeah, shout out to you for that, y'all.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
I want you to know also, while I have this platform,
Sarah was the plug.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
I had all intentions of sitting in the bed and
watching everything on TV, and Sarah said, no, you're gonna
be here, So I appreciate that. But yeah, I did
see Cock Copper go word for word on Dreams and
Nightmares at Kandas Parker's Anita's party.
Speaker 5 (21:33):
And that might have been the highlight of my weekend
as a whole. You know what.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Actually though, Flage got on stage and performed right after that,
and I was front row for it. Can I tell
y'all we're gonna give her a shout out later in
the show. But get on board, tell you right now,
get on.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Board right I have now seen flopperform multiple times because
we were out in France together, you know, Subtle Flex,
and then I saw at Boardroom on Thursday night, and
are again at a different event later in the weekend,
like she was everywhere. By the way, Hilario said that
Boardroom event, I was sitting with the president of the
New Valkyrie's Bay Area team and Laura Krenty with Deep
(22:12):
Blue and We're sitting in this VIP area that was
reserved and we just felt like, you know, sitting down
and we're like, yeah, it's reserved for us. This girl
comes over and she's like just wanted to let you
know that, like in a couple of minutes, Maria owned
School will be here and so you'll have to move.
And we're like all right, and then she walked away.
We go, who the hells Maria Owns, Like, we don't
know who Maria is? She with like a sponsor. We're
(22:32):
not moving for Maria. We're gonna like make friends. And
then she comes back and she goes, okay, just a
five minute warning on Marina ownskew and we're like it's Marina. Now,
who's Marina? Who is this Maria Marina? And she's like
it might be Sabrina and we're like, oh, okay, Sabrina
you Neescu and she's like, I don't know, I'm I
(22:53):
just work here, and we're like, okay, well, we'll move
for her, like we'll get our asses out of this booth.
So Brendan Ginescu I get.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
Well, like we're just kidding.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
From now on, we're gonna have a group thread that
just called Who's Maria because we were like, who's Maria?
We're not moving for Maria. Yeah, the parties were super fun.
You know, I always say this, but I really feel
like one of the coolest things about the women's sports
space and events like this is you look around the
room and you're like, I would hang with all these people,
(23:26):
like these are awesome people. And even when it's crowded
and even when it's hard to get into, everyone's nice,
everyone's kind. It's just a vibe. It's just it's really cool.
Another really cool thing for me is I got to
be present for two different legends getting their flowers in
the moment. One of them, you know, well passed retirement
(23:47):
but as there's so much conversation about, and one of
them literally right after retiring. And the first was Thursday night.
Shout out to Christina Williams who invited me to this
beautiful dinner on the SDK rooftop and we honored Cheryl
Swoops and Christina, by the way, has a new show
coming out right on this network on iHeart, so we'll
be making sure we give you all the info when
that drops. It's later this week, so you can listen
(24:10):
to it. But Cheryl Swoops got up and one of
the things she talked about was just like, there's these
superstar players from her time that do get a lot
of credit, but how many of the everyday players or
even regular All stars are not known. And it got
me thinking about how disrespectful some of the language around
the older years of the WNBA has been. Like if
(24:32):
you look at the early years of the NBA, the
playoffs were on tape delay. There were five thousand people
in the stands for some of the most historic performances
we've seen, and yet we remember them with this aura,
this mythologizing of the NBA greats who helped build the league,
and even if you don't know a lot about them,
you know the names and you talk about them with reverence.
(24:54):
And in the WNBA, the language has always been that
was shit. Before Caitlin got there, nobody watched it wasn't good.
And we know that's not true. We know the players
were incredible, the product was amazing. It is all about
TV coverage, media coverage, society's bullshit. Like there is so
much there was intention too to some of the ways
(25:16):
that women's sports were not being elevated. There were columns
being written by high profile journalists making fun of it,
poisoning the well, dogging it for no reason. And so
when Cheryl started to talk about these players who not
only don't get their flowers, but are actively being dogged
by people who are trying to make it seem like
the product wasn't good until Caitlin arrived, we can't have
(25:37):
that like that's trash. And one of the things she
said she wants to do is have a brunch with
current and former players and bridge that gap, get the
younger current players to really get to meet and know
some of the people who paved the way for them.
And I love that idea. I just think shout out
to Cheryl for that. Speaking of Cheryl, Cheryl Swoops also
has a show on this network coming out soon, so
(25:57):
we'll be making sure to tell you how you can
listen to that too. The other one quickly was Kandas Parker.
So Candas is on the Gatorade Women's Advisory Board with
me this term, and I've known Candas for a while
and she's literally the best, but her relationship with her
sponsors is truly special. And we saw that on Friday Night.
Adidas threw her a surprise retirement party and had her
(26:19):
daughter Layla voice over a video commemorating her career, had
a bunch of her friends and teammates come up and
speak about her like people were just pouring into canvas
all weekend. But during our advisory board meeting, Gatorade surprise
Candace by telling her they were putting up a billboard
digital billboard outside the Footprint Center with her arms spread open,
(26:41):
just commemorating her career, and she basically was like on
the verge of tears talking about how much it meant
to her her relationship with GAATEORAID since being named a
Gatoraide Player of the Year twenty years ago. By the way,
her class was Lebron, James, Allison, Felix and her and
Hather ol'riiley the soccer player. Like that's dynastic right there.
But she has these relationships with these sponsors and the
(27:03):
people around her, and anyone who's gotten to know Candice
just knows like she's the real one. She's the best.
So I loved being in the room for those moments
with those players, and we definitely need to do that more. Yes,
these current players are amazing and they're setting records, and
all these women that came before, we deserve to know
more about them, to make sure they know how appreciated
(27:24):
they are. All right, Misha, anything else on the weekend.
You're gonna sleep for a couple of days or are
you good?
Speaker 4 (27:30):
No, we're grinding, Sarah, we got a show to me.
You know. We can't stop now. We can't stop now.
Speaker 5 (27:35):
But just it was.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Awesome meeting everybody at WNBA Live as well. I know,
I got to say hi to a bunch of people
shout out round twenty one play a society. Can't retire
from this, follow can't retire, doc because what you're talking
about with Cheryl, there are so many people I met
this weekend who are also trying to help bridge that
gap for new fans to learn about the history of
the league and where we've come from with women's basketball
(27:57):
as a whole.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
The WBL, the ABL, y'all don't know about them.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
You should, so just tap in, tap in all the
way if you're going to be in lean in, folks.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
I love it, I love it. It was so fun
to hang. Next time you're in, Alex, next time you're
in when we come back two goats giving us the
feels we're going to talk about one of those moments
that feels like it can only happen in women's sports.
Stick around, welcome back. We're glad you're here. Honestly, we're
(28:28):
glad we're here because being in Phoenix in the middle
of summer felt like being inside someone's mouth, and I
was worried I wasn't going to make it out. Thank
goodness for air conditioning and thank goodness for covering women's sports.
I was sharing that thought with my girl, Maggie Hendrix,
who is a great reporter for all sorts of women's sports,
and we witnessed this moment on Saturday night that really
(28:49):
felt like it was that sort of where else but
women's sports moment, and it was between Cheryl Miller and
Ann Meyers Drysdale. Now this was heartwarming, to say the least,
and we got to talk about it. So Cheryl was
appointed to run the show for Team WNBA in the
All Star Game. She was the coach, and in case
you missed it, we talked about her last episode. But
one of the baddest women to ever play basketball won
(29:12):
two national titles with USC, was an All American All
four years. WNBA didn't exist when she graduated, and she
had some knee injuries that cut her career short. But
she was a dog and she's done a lot of
broadcasting work. She was the first head coach in Phoenix
Mercury history. So awesome were Friday Night at the Skills Challenge.
Cheryl Miller got a shout out on the JumboTron, and
(29:32):
she was sitting next to fellow basketball legend Ann Meyers Drysdale,
But they only gave a shout out to Cheryl Drysdale
wasn't recognized. Cheryl's pointing next to her, but they don't
put Ann's name up on the JumboTron, and she kind
of goes unrecognized. Okay. Anne was the first player regardless
of gender, to be an All American in four straight seasons,
(29:52):
the first player drafted to the Women's Basketball League aka
the WBL AKA, the first professional women's league in the
United States. She was also the first female player to
try out with an NBA team. She tried out for
the Indiana Pacers. Now she's a long time vice president
of the Mercury and the Suns. When I say basketball greatness,
(30:14):
Ann Meyers Drysdale is it so we love the moment.
On Saturday, the cameras are on them, and right before
tip off, I'm talking like minutes before tip off of
the All Star Game, Cheryl Miller walks over to Drysdale
sitting courtside, throws her a quarter zip jacket and makes
her an honorary coach, brings her over to the bench
(30:35):
to coach with her for the night. It was announced
in the arena, the crowd went crazy and it was
the kind of shit we love to see it, just
this women supporting women, making sure the legacy of the
game is remembered, making sure we're lifting as we rise.
It was just really, really freaking cool. So shout out Cheryl,
shout out Anne, and shout out those moments that feel
(30:56):
like they're where else but in women's sports. King of
Women's Sports, we have a lineup this week for the
rest of our shows that's going to blow your mind.
Tierna Davidson ahead of the US women's soccer team playing
in Paris, the legendary Abby Wombach to break down the NWSL,
the Olympic team, everything she's been doing since she retired.
(31:17):
Maggie Stephens, literally the greatest women's water polo player on
the Planet and more. That's all coming up this week.
As always, we love that you're listening, but we do
want you to get in the game every day too.
So here's our good game play of the day, and
it's an easy one. Listen to Flage's new album. It's
called Best of Both Worlds. She's got a Lil Wayne
(31:38):
feature on it, She's got some banger songs. And remember
that this is an LSU player national champion, still in college,
still playing, and has a full rap career in addition,
putting out an album, performing at the SP's, performing at
all these parties, like she really can't do it all
and she's so beloved. If you watched her walking around
(31:59):
the All Star and she just got it, she got
that it factor. So give Flages album and you listen,
give her some love. Oh we also need you to subscribe, rate,
and review. Thank you to those who have already done it.
We love to hear from you, and we especially love
two reviews that we saw. We got to read them. Okay.
H M Parodies wrote for one Star no equestrian sport coverage,
(32:23):
another sports show with no horseback riding sport coverage. It's
a massively popular industry with many disciplines. Men and women
compete against each other directly, even at the highest levels
like the Olympics. You know what, You're right, but it's
a little early to presume that we will not be
the leading coverer of dressage. It is a little presumptuous
to just assume that we're not going to be giving
(32:45):
you all the horseback riding content that you deserve. It
may be accurate, but you don't know that yet. We've
only done three shows, so hang in there with us.
You might get those horses you're looking for. You never know.
And also out to Cherokee Heel, who gave us five
stars and said this is gonna be fun. As someone
who played a rover in high school basketball because city
(33:07):
schools didn't think girls could run full court for forty minutes,
this podcast has long been wanted and needed. Congratulations. Are
you sure you're not a lesbian? You know I'm not.
You know I'm happily married to a man. But who
do we ever really know? You know I'm open. I'm
(33:29):
open to where life will take me. Thank you Cherokee
Heel for the review and for making sure I'm keeping
an open mind. You can hit us up on our
email Good Game at wondermedianetwork dot com or on social
at Sarah Spain on Twitter. You can even leave us
a voicemail message eight seven two two oh four five
oh seven oh thanks as always for listening. Come back tomorrow.
(33:50):
Good game, Alicia Gray, Good Game, Arika Glumbouale you people
who crowd the baggage carousel instead of taking two steps
back and then stepping up to grab their bag when
it arrives. And yes, I did come straight from an airport.
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
(34:13):
wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzi and Misha Jones. Our executive
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Jenny Kaplan, Emily Rutter, Breddy Martinez and
Grace Lynch. Production assistants from Lucy Jones and I'm Your
Host Sarah Spain h h
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, the Show that
Wants to Hug our Uber driver for asking if we
were playing in the WNBA All Star Game this weekend
on today's show. Yes, it's all things WNBA All Star
weekend records broken, ACL's torn Flowers, given party thrown, we
were there, a time was had. We'll tell you all
about it, but first here's what you need to know today.
(00:27):
Lots of WNBA news from the weekend. As mentioned. WNBA
All Star Game on Saturday night at the Footprint Center
in Phoenix and the WNBA All Stars beat Team USA
one seventeen one oh nine. Same thing happened last time.
This was the format for the game and we're sending
off Team USA with the l again. Arique Agunbawale went
(00:49):
off a WNBA All Star Game record thirty four points,
all of them in the second half, including eight three pointers,
and she won MVP Honors. Records broken by the Rooks
to Fever. Rookie Caitlin Clark's ten assists the most ever
by a rookie in an All Star game, and sky
forward Angel Reese recorded the first rookie double double ever
(01:10):
in an All Star Game, finishing with twelve points and
eleven boards. Friday night, it was the Skills Competition and
the three Point Contest, and Atlanta dreamguard Alicia Gray had
a historic evening. She's the first ever to win both
in the same year. Girl got a bag too. We're
gonna get into that later. Heading into that competition. By
the way, the biggest storyline we talked about right here
(01:32):
on Good Game was that both Caitlyn Clark and Sabrina
yan Escu declined invites from the league to compete in
the three point Contest, and Clark was asked about that
in a press conference. Here's what she had to say
about choosing to sit out.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, honestly, like I think this ress, like had been
planned basketball for a year straight. Like's, It's not an
easy thing to just show up to and shootout in Iraq's.
Has something I've ever done before.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
It's not something I've had a lot of.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Time to practice. I've been focusing on helping my two
win games.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
I think, just you know, enjoying this break.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
I think there's gonna be plenty of opportunities for you
to do that as I'm boying it. But at the
same time, like the field, the shooters that we have
in the competition are really good. They're all like mere
forty percent shooters, So I'm excited for them. I'll be
there supporting them and it'll be fun. But yeah, I mean,
I think the biggest this is the thing on us
for me is just like I need a break. I
need to take some time to myself to enjoy what
I want to do, and at times that can be
(02:24):
tough be the physician that I'm in, but I think
he should be healthiest from.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
His own A little more WNBA news. So Connecticut Sun
Power couple do want to? Bonner and Alyssa Thomas are
on the cover of Slam magazine. Google that check that out.
You can even get it on a T shirt if
you want. And speaking of couples we love, on Friday,
Brittany Grinder and her wife Cherrelle announced that their baby
bash Raymond, was born on July eighth. Now, it's been
(02:48):
a difficult last couple of years for them, and that's
putting it very lightly. So to see the joy on
Beg's face playing on her home court during the All
Star festivities, knowing that she's about to head to the
Olympics and rep the USA and now soaking it all
in while she's got a newborn back home. We're just
so happy for the couple and sending Brittany all of
(03:10):
our love and also, I guess we got to call
her Pops now. Shout out to my girl, Tarika Foster Brasby.
She got this great SoundBite from BG for CBS Sports
over the weekend.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
There's probably one other job that you're about to get
into that is really hard and really scary.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
You're about to be a mom.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
How is that feeling, Pops?
Speaker 5 (03:31):
Oh, let me get it together. About to be a pops?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Pops it is, We got you. BG Commissioner kat the
Engelbert said ahead of Saturday's All Star Game that the
WNBA is considering expanding regular season to forty four games
for next year's season. Now, forty four games per team
are the most that would be allowed under the current
Collective Bargaining Agreement, and the number of games has grown
over the years, from twenty eight in the first season
(03:55):
in nineteen ninety seven to thirty four in two thousand
and three, thirty six two and forty games both last
year and this year, so we could be getting more
games next year as well. Kathy Engelbert also talked about
efforts to continue to globalize the game and mentioned Europe, Asia,
Mexico City, and the Middle East as places that the
WNBA might hold future games. The league previously has held
(04:18):
a couple exhibition games in Canada. They're also talking about
potentially having contests in neutral sites in the US to
test out potential expansion markets. So you remember on the show,
we reported last week that the WNBA is set to
receive nearly two hundred million dollars a year as part
of new broadcast rights. Now, this is part of a
larger seventy five billion dollar NBA deal that was negotiated,
(04:41):
and we're still waiting for the official final word on
all of the numbers and the deal. But the head
of the WNBA Players Association, Terry Jackson, spoke out with
some concern that the league is still being undervalued. In
a statement, she said, in part quote, we look forward
to learning how the NBA arrived at a two hundred
million dollar valuation if initial reports are accurate or even close.
(05:02):
Neither the NBA nor the WNBA can deny that in
the last few years we've seen unprecedented growth across all metrics,
the players continue to demonstrate their commitment to building the brand,
and that the fans keep showing up. There is no
excuse to undervalue the WNBA. Again, she is absolutely right
and we are looking forward to the final numbers on
that and how that valuation came to be. Remember, in
(05:23):
that initial agreement, there was still potential room for more
money because it did not prevent other deals and other
partnerships from taking place. So we're gonna wait for the
final word on that one. We also got some NWSL
news over the weekend. The Portland Thorns have announced that
interim head coach Rob Gail has been made the permanent
head coach. Now you remember he began serving as head
(05:44):
coach back in April when then head coach Mike Norris
was reassigned as the club's technical director. And things have
been looking up for the Thorns ever since since Scale
took over. They've moved up the NWSL table and they're
currently sitting in fifth in golf. Chinetti want to say
on of Thailand, recorded back to back Birdie's and won
the twenty twenty four Dana Open on Sunday. That is
(06:05):
her second career LPGA title. Coming up our organs, our soup,
our headaches seem maternal, and our voices are several octaves lower.
Misha and I talk about hanging out in Phoenix at
the All Star weekend. Next. Okay, let's get back into
(06:27):
the WNBA All Star festivities because we were there, and
when I say we, I'm not using the royal we.
Mesh was there too, and Mish and I got to
meet in person, So Alex, I'm gonna put you on
some sort of trip. We're going to take a team
field trip sometime, but for now, it was so nice
to meet producer Mish in person and uh, have a
(06:47):
couple adult beverages, watch some good basketball. We never partied
at the same time because we're on different schedules. Meisch
takes a disco nap like a young person and then
heads back out. And I got a power straight through
because if I sit down, my body's like, oh, we're done,
thank you. Okay, go to sleep. Now. Well, let's start
with Saturday. It's game Meiche. We were in the Gatorade suite.
(07:07):
Shout out to Gatorade and my whole women's Advisory board
for being so excited to meet Mesh. They had all
listened to the show and they're like, oh, it's Mesh
from the show. No, oh, no, you and journalists they
all even knew their social tag so that game. Cheryl
Reef called it probably the greatest spectacle in our league's history.
And I mean, multiple records broken, a sold out venue,
(07:31):
pit bull at the half. We'll talk about that later.
I mean, it did go off, meiche.
Speaker 5 (07:36):
It did go off. It absolutely went off.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
It was everything and more for me, hands down.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I'm not the first person to say this the best
All Star experience I have ever personally had. If you
can't tell by my voice, it's probably gonna crack a
couple of times, folks.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
And that's it, is it. We're both a little lower,
a little low lower than when we left.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
A bit a bit, but it was freaking fantastic.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
I mean, Arikae Gumbawale, she did exactly what I predicted.
Ye I don't want to sound like and know what all,
but I was right, y'all. Like I chatted with Rebecca
Lobo last week and we kind of predicted this would happen.
Speaker 6 (08:13):
Take a listen, but the last time in twenty twenty one,
when the Olympians played the All Stars and Arique went
off and the All Stars won the game. That was
pretty cool too, because it's always more fun of course,
when it's competitive and the teams are playing really hard,
and that game was a situation where that was the case.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
A Rika is an interesting one to say when they're
competitive and it matters, because we've seen her speak out
about the Team USA roster and kind of saying she
pulled herself out of the process because she didn't think
it was fair or an honest process for whatever reason,
and she's gonna want to go off in this game.
I could see Arigae wanting to get MVP, wanting to
(08:53):
beat Team USA and prove some sort of point. So
that's a good one to bring up. We might see
that again. And for those who didn't get what I
was saying there, Arique has been in the team pool
for the US team the last two Olympics cycles, didn't
make the team in twenty twenty one, and then a
bit after the roster was announced this year, she said
(09:16):
publicly she took her name out of the mix and
said there were quote unquote politics in the selection process.
This is the second time Arikee has not made that
team and then gone on to become MVP in the
All Star Game. Going off. Last time it was twenty
six points, which was impressive enough. This time thirty four.
And this is one of those games when you look
(09:36):
at the box score afterwards, it's not the same as
when you're there in the building, not at all. Watching
her just drain three after three after three, hands in
her face, falling away didn't matter.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
You know what I knew it was going to be
a special night is when she she was coming right
to left down the court, took a one footed off
her left foot, one footed shot from the top of
the key switch. I say, yeah, this is you know,
we just didn't sit back, eat the popcorn and enjoy
this moment because she's about to do some give spectacular stuff,
really truly well.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
And zero points in the first half. So when they
came back out at the half in the beginning of
the third, she started to get really hot and they
looked like they were feeding her. I turned to you
and I said, Okay, do you think they had a
conversation at the break about getting her the MVP? Because
the thing about All Star games is there are so
many talented players out there. Everybody wants their time, everybody
(10:30):
wants their shine, and they all kind of know that
the fans are there to see their respective favorites, right,
So when you've got a game where someone gets really hot,
it does sort of have to be a team decision
because in a regular game, you want to win no
matter what, so you're feeding the hot hand. But in
an All Star game, it's about showing everybody's skills. It
got kind of clear to me quickly that the rest
(10:52):
of the team was on board. In fact, after the game,
Kaitlin Clark said they tried to sub me in for
a reega in. I was like, absolutely not. You got
to do that. Pep're in there letter cook.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
When you see somebody doing things like that, you don't
want to stop the spectacle. Like you mentioned, the fans
are there for a show, and if you know somebody's cooking,
why would you not continue to feed the hot hand.
I also feel like at the All Star break, these
players are very, very tired, even the ones that are
in the game, and so I'm not mad if I'm
necho or I'm one of the older you know players
on that team and Arique's cooking, please make us all
(11:23):
look good. We're all gonna get this win together. We're
all on the roster.
Speaker 5 (11:26):
Come on. So but she had a special night for sure.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Literally, letter Cook, make us all dinner and we'll just
sit here and watch because we're tired. We're tired. Also
worth noting they want to win that game. There is
pride on the line for Team WNBA versus Team USA,
and for the second straight time, the WNBA All Stars won.
You and I were talking before I had Team USA
all the way. Yeah, I thought after they lost, getting
(11:51):
ready for the Tokyo Games, they would just have this
chip on their shoulder of like, yeah, we got to
prove we know we're gonna go out there as the
favorites for gold again. We know we're one of the
most nastic teams in Olympic history. But we still got
to get this w before we leave. And instead they
are getting on that plane to Paris, perhaps not as
happy as they could be, perhaps feeling a little bit like, oh,
(12:12):
we did not want to enter this Olympic outing with
a big fat l just before we left.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Yeah, but you know, if you really sit and't think
about it, Team WNBA was coming in. Of course, there
was an actual game to lose, but they had nothing
to lose. It was all fun and games for them.
For Team USA, both teams in the first half looked
a little tight. I think there were nerves, but Team
USA looked stiff. They looked like they were, you know,
giving up shots. They weren't playing as loose just because
you know that that pressure's on. It's real, it exists.
(12:41):
And they were partying. As we all know, they were
out there in the streets.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
We'll get to that. We'll get to them being out
in the streets because we saw them and we were
with them. But I also think they might have been
trying to run plays, work on stuff that they've been
working on in practice, like really prep in a way
that Team WNBA isn't prepping. And TWNBA knew they were
about to take a month off, like this is it
on my body? I get a month off, whereas Team
(13:04):
USA is like, man, we're gonna keep grinding. So all
that is taken into account when we see that WNBA win.
But speaking of wins, Arique, after that incredible performance, we're
all kind of holding our breath to see what kind
of trophy she gets because there's been a lot of
talk in the past about the trophy size, and I'll
(13:25):
tell you what. We all know, this size matters. And
when Kelsey Plumb had that little itty bitty trophy that
looked like something you'd have to save up a bunch
of tokens or tickets at David Buster's to get out
of ice the glass case in front, we were all like,
what the hell is that thing? And so thankfully this
year was a nice appropriately sized glass trophy plaque, whatever
(13:49):
you're gonna call it, for a rique well deserved, well deserved.
Speaking of well deserved, I think we all need to
hold the dollar real quick from Alicia Gray because she
went off on Friday and it paid off. Gray got
two thousand, five hundred and seventy five dollars from the
league for each of her wins for the three point
(14:10):
and the skills. That's per the WNBACBA, but she also
got fifty five thousand dollars per event from AFLAC as
part of a partnership with the WNBA Players Association, So
one hundred and ten thousand dollars from AFLAC in addition
to what she got from the WNBA. Folks, we did
the math for you. Her base salary from the Dream
(14:31):
this year is one hundred and eighty five thousand dollars
and on Friday Night she won one hundred and fifteen thousand,
one hundred and fifty dollars. That's sixty two percent of
her season salary in one night. Talk about it. Come
up for Alicia Gray. We love to see it. And
Mesh was also really fun. She was wearing her goggles
and he rode kind of goggles. Yeah. Holly Road kind
(14:54):
of called her out and was like, those are non prescription, right,
and she was like, oh, secrets out right. I wear
them because I got poked in the eye before and
now it's just kind of my look. But they cut
over and Alicia's former college teammate Asia Wilson was wearing
the glasses the goggles in solitude court side while watching,
and then of course Asia said after the big wins,
she's not paying for another dinner, and I don't blame her.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Yeah, when somebody comes up big like that, we're all eating.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
That's the whole point, right.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
We were we were with you shooting in the gym. Literally,
Asia was with Alsia Gray shooting in the gym. So
I'm just I'm ecstatic for her. And she's so sweet.
That's the one thing I love about her. Everybody saw
that viral video of her and Angel Reese at the
scorer is table too, just cheesing.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
I love it all.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
She's such a sweet human, so southern.
Speaker 5 (15:38):
I love it. I can appreciate that very much. But big, big,
but she's a.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Killer, big big, but she's a killer because she went
out there and the Power of the Dream. It's not
just a documentary, y'all. It's Alisia Gray, Power of the Dream,
taken both on Friday night, one bummer mesh and like,
thankfully you and I were not affected, but a lot
of people were that, like somebody hit refresh on our
(16:03):
entire societal technology and it really focks some people up
for this weekend, And one of them was Erica Wheeler
of the Fever. She was supposed to compete in the
Skills Challenge on Friday, but her flight got canceled, so
Kelsey Mitchell, also of the Fever, stepped in. She was
already in Phoenix as part of the All Star Game
and competed. But that's just a bummer, Like you have
to hope. I know Eric has been an MVP in
(16:23):
the All Star Game, before and she's had her moments there,
but you just don't know how many of those you're
gonna get and for it to be like, imagine how
pissed we are when we're just like going to a
girl's weekend and our flight gets canceled, Like you're going
to potentially win fifty five thousand dollars, yeah, and your
flight doesn't go like that was a real.
Speaker 5 (16:40):
Bummer, big, big, big bummer.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
And not to mention just the fact that we all
talked about it, this was probably the best All Star
that the WNBA's had, and to miss out on that
is also just a huge, huge letdown.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
So so sorry, Erica Wheeler. Hopefully you get.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Another opportunity to do this even bigger, even better next
year or in the future.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
The only person who potentially had a worse weekend was
Aubrey Plaza. Now I'm not laughing because it's funny, but
it's kind of funny only because how are you going
to show up to the WNBA All Star as an
actress and fan and be the one who tears your
acl Like you got people out here fighting for money
and prestige and MVP awards and they're okay and you're
(17:20):
just playing Knockout at the Phoenix Mercury New Facility and
you tear your ACL. H the Parks and rec star
of TV and film, one of my all time fabs
who is straight up a vibe at all times. Whether
she's given double middle fingers on the jumbotront or not,
she's pretty much always a vibe. But she literally tore
her ACL midweekend. So like we saw her in a
(17:43):
bunch of places, she was doing a podcast with Sue
Byrd and Meghan Rapino. She was court sided for the
Skills and the three point. At some point between when
we saw her Friday night and Saturday Night's All Star Game,
we look courtsied and she's got crutches and a brace,
and Sue Bird is changing her ice pack and we
find out via the broadcast and Ryan Roco that she
(18:04):
tory cl.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
That's the kind of stuff that makes women's sports so spectacular,
because when have you heard a storyline like that at
the at the NBA All Star Game?
Speaker 5 (18:17):
You don't, because you just don't.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Aubrey Plaza that you're gracing the WNBA with your presence again,
because I also love everything.
Speaker 5 (18:24):
She's ever been in.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
But yeah, you're you're not even spectating, right, Just sit still,
don't do nothing, you know what, you know what, Props
to her forgiving it her all.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
It sounds like she was playing more defense in in
that knockout game than you didn't.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
She was walking somebody from getting the ball she was.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
I see it for her, I do.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
That's right, that's right. One last thing about that Saturday night,
A lot of people were mad about Pitbull being the
halftime performer, which, like, to be honest, I was kind
of surprised about. But then it made sense and I
was thinking about it. I was like, wait, I'm really
enjoying this, and I'm like definitely shouting along with him fireball,
and I'm like, Hi, I'm the problem. It's me? Is
this me not getting that it's like contributing to anti
(19:04):
feminism because there's like scantily clad women dancing with them
and I don't know what it is, amish. Maybe you disagree,
but you know, there's a hip hop squad for the
Phoenix Mercury and there's men and women dancing, and it's
reminiscent of the dance squads at NBA games that sometimes
feel problematic, but they feel sort of like empowered, And
I don't know if that's the vibe I'm getting a
(19:25):
lot more these days. Is it doesn't feel like objectification.
It feels like empowerment. And it might just be the
lens through which I'm seeing things, but to me, Pitbull
and his dancers it didn't feel like, oh, this is
inappropriate for a women's event. It felt like it's pit Bull,
it's mister Worldwide, and he's got dancers that are hot
and that are dancing. But I don't know if I've
(19:46):
just gotten so like, is this internalized misogyny where I'm
just conditioned to see this bullshit and I'm like, yeah,
that's cool.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
You know, Sarah.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
I think the environment had a lot to do with it,
because personally, pipple was it wouldn't have been my first choice,
but I enjoyed myself and when he did all of
You or whatever.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
The day of that song is last Yep with Neo.
Speaker 5 (20:03):
I loved it. I ate it up. But to your point.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
About the scantily glad women, I feel like the difference
is the gays, right, It's not so much the male gaates.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
It's a bunch of lesbians and they're watching them.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Folks dance and it's adoration and it's pure joy and
it's not you know, the objectification we're used.
Speaker 5 (20:18):
To, you know what I mean. So I think that
had a lot to do with it.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
But overall they were just talented also, and I think
that always, you know, brings general spirit of appreciation for
whatever is going on.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Yeah, yeah, I mean I think I see both sides
for sure. I understand people who had a problem, and
I also understand people like me who were like it
was just a good time. Plus, you know, Unfortunately, Brandy
Carlisle just wouldn't hit the same way, and that would
have been my top choice.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
I don't know if that would have I don't know
if that would have been not.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
For the All Star Game, but shout out, Brandy Carlisle.
Give me, I love you so much.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Give me Victoria Monet next year, WNBA, give me Victoria
Monet and we'll be in business. Or Kailani, that would
be fantastic. You want to make some money there you go.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Thursday and Friday, there were some good parties. To get
to me, she and I were ships passing in the night.
Did you have a highlight for any of the parties
that you went to aka I got you in.
Speaker 5 (21:11):
Yeah, shout out to you for that, y'all.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
I want you to know also, while I have this platform,
Sarah was the plug.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
I had all intentions of sitting in the bed and
watching everything on TV, and Sarah said, no, you're gonna
be here, So I appreciate that. But yeah, I did
see Cock Copper go word for word on Dreams and
Nightmares at Kandas Parker's Anita's party.
Speaker 5 (21:33):
And that might have been the highlight of my weekend
as a whole. You know what.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Actually though, Flage got on stage and performed right after that,
and I was front row for it. Can I tell
y'all we're gonna give her a shout out later in
the show. But get on board, tell you right now,
get on.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Board right I have now seen flopperform multiple times because
we were out in France together, you know, Subtle Flex,
and then I saw at Boardroom on Thursday night, and
are again at a different event later in the weekend,
like she was everywhere. By the way, Hilario said that
Boardroom event, I was sitting with the president of the
New Valkyrie's Bay Area team and Laura Krenty with Deep
(22:12):
Blue and We're sitting in this VIP area that was
reserved and we just felt like, you know, sitting down
and we're like, yeah, it's reserved for us. This girl
comes over and she's like just wanted to let you
know that, like in a couple of minutes, Maria owned
School will be here and so you'll have to move.
And we're like all right, and then she walked away.
We go, who the hells Maria Owns, Like, we don't
know who Maria is? She with like a sponsor. We're
(22:32):
not moving for Maria. We're gonna like make friends. And
then she comes back and she goes, okay, just a
five minute warning on Marina ownskew and we're like it's Marina. Now,
who's Marina? Who is this Maria Marina? And she's like
it might be Sabrina and we're like, oh, okay, Sabrina
you Neescu and she's like, I don't know, I'm I
(22:53):
just work here, and we're like, okay, well, we'll move
for her, like we'll get our asses out of this booth.
So Brendan Ginescu I get.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
Well, like we're just kidding.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
From now on, we're gonna have a group thread that
just called Who's Maria because we were like, who's Maria?
We're not moving for Maria. Yeah, the parties were super fun.
You know, I always say this, but I really feel
like one of the coolest things about the women's sports
space and events like this is you look around the
room and you're like, I would hang with all these people,
(23:26):
like these are awesome people. And even when it's crowded
and even when it's hard to get into, everyone's nice,
everyone's kind. It's just a vibe. It's just it's really cool.
Another really cool thing for me is I got to
be present for two different legends getting their flowers in
the moment. One of them, you know, well passed retirement
(23:47):
but as there's so much conversation about, and one of
them literally right after retiring. And the first was Thursday night.
Shout out to Christina Williams who invited me to this
beautiful dinner on the SDK rooftop and we honored Cheryl
Swoops and Christina, by the way, has a new show
coming out right on this network on iHeart, so we'll
be making sure we give you all the info when
that drops. It's later this week, so you can listen
(24:10):
to it. But Cheryl Swoops got up and one of
the things she talked about was just like, there's these
superstar players from her time that do get a lot
of credit, but how many of the everyday players or
even regular All stars are not known. And it got
me thinking about how disrespectful some of the language around
the older years of the WNBA has been. Like if
(24:32):
you look at the early years of the NBA, the
playoffs were on tape delay. There were five thousand people
in the stands for some of the most historic performances
we've seen, and yet we remember them with this aura,
this mythologizing of the NBA greats who helped build the league,
and even if you don't know a lot about them,
you know the names and you talk about them with reverence.
(24:54):
And in the WNBA, the language has always been that
was shit. Before Caitlin got there, nobody watched it wasn't good.
And we know that's not true. We know the players
were incredible, the product was amazing. It is all about
TV coverage, media coverage, society's bullshit. Like there is so
much there was intention too to some of the ways
(25:16):
that women's sports were not being elevated. There were columns
being written by high profile journalists making fun of it,
poisoning the well, dogging it for no reason. And so
when Cheryl started to talk about these players who not
only don't get their flowers, but are actively being dogged
by people who are trying to make it seem like
the product wasn't good until Caitlin arrived, we can't have
(25:37):
that like that's trash. And one of the things she
said she wants to do is have a brunch with
current and former players and bridge that gap, get the
younger current players to really get to meet and know
some of the people who paved the way for them.
And I love that idea. I just think shout out
to Cheryl for that. Speaking of Cheryl, Cheryl Swoops also
has a show on this network coming out soon, so
(25:57):
we'll be making sure to tell you how you can
listen to that too. The other one quickly was Kandas Parker.
So Candas is on the Gatorade Women's Advisory Board with
me this term, and I've known Candas for a while
and she's literally the best, but her relationship with her
sponsors is truly special. And we saw that on Friday Night.
Adidas threw her a surprise retirement party and had her
(26:19):
daughter Layla voice over a video commemorating her career, had
a bunch of her friends and teammates come up and
speak about her like people were just pouring into canvas
all weekend. But during our advisory board meeting, Gatorade surprise
Candace by telling her they were putting up a billboard
digital billboard outside the Footprint Center with her arms spread open,
(26:41):
just commemorating her career, and she basically was like on
the verge of tears talking about how much it meant
to her her relationship with GAATEORAID since being named a
Gatoraide Player of the Year twenty years ago. By the way,
her class was Lebron, James, Allison, Felix and her and
Hather ol'riiley the soccer player. Like that's dynastic right there.
But she has these relationships with these sponsors and the
(27:03):
people around her, and anyone who's gotten to know Candice
just knows like she's the real one. She's the best.
So I loved being in the room for those moments
with those players, and we definitely need to do that more. Yes,
these current players are amazing and they're setting records, and
all these women that came before, we deserve to know
more about them, to make sure they know how appreciated
(27:24):
they are. All right, Misha, anything else on the weekend.
You're gonna sleep for a couple of days or are
you good?
Speaker 4 (27:30):
No, we're grinding, Sarah, we got a show to me.
You know. We can't stop now. We can't stop now.
Speaker 5 (27:35):
But just it was.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Awesome meeting everybody at WNBA Live as well. I know,
I got to say hi to a bunch of people
shout out round twenty one play a society. Can't retire
from this, follow can't retire, doc because what you're talking
about with Cheryl, there are so many people I met
this weekend who are also trying to help bridge that
gap for new fans to learn about the history of
the league and where we've come from with women's basketball
(27:57):
as a whole.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
The WBL, the ABL, y'all don't know about them.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
You should, so just tap in, tap in all the
way if you're going to be in lean in, folks.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
I love it, I love it. It was so fun
to hang. Next time you're in, Alex, next time you're
in when we come back two goats giving us the
feels we're going to talk about one of those moments
that feels like it can only happen in women's sports.
Stick around, welcome back. We're glad you're here. Honestly, we're
(28:28):
glad we're here because being in Phoenix in the middle
of summer felt like being inside someone's mouth, and I
was worried I wasn't going to make it out. Thank
goodness for air conditioning and thank goodness for covering women's sports.
I was sharing that thought with my girl, Maggie Hendrix,
who is a great reporter for all sorts of women's sports,
and we witnessed this moment on Saturday night that really
(28:49):
felt like it was that sort of where else but
women's sports moment, and it was between Cheryl Miller and
Ann Meyers Drysdale. Now this was heartwarming, to say the least,
and we got to talk about it. So Cheryl was
appointed to run the show for Team WNBA in the
All Star Game. She was the coach, and in case
you missed it, we talked about her last episode. But
one of the baddest women to ever play basketball won
(29:12):
two national titles with USC, was an All American All
four years. WNBA didn't exist when she graduated, and she
had some knee injuries that cut her career short. But
she was a dog and she's done a lot of
broadcasting work. She was the first head coach in Phoenix
Mercury history. So awesome were Friday Night at the Skills Challenge.
Cheryl Miller got a shout out on the JumboTron, and
(29:32):
she was sitting next to fellow basketball legend Ann Meyers Drysdale,
But they only gave a shout out to Cheryl Drysdale
wasn't recognized. Cheryl's pointing next to her, but they don't
put Ann's name up on the JumboTron, and she kind
of goes unrecognized. Okay. Anne was the first player regardless
of gender, to be an All American in four straight seasons,
(29:52):
the first player drafted to the Women's Basketball League aka
the WBL AKA, the first professional women's league in the
United States. She was also the first female player to
try out with an NBA team. She tried out for
the Indiana Pacers. Now she's a long time vice president
of the Mercury and the Suns. When I say basketball greatness,
(30:14):
Ann Meyers Drysdale is it so we love the moment.
On Saturday, the cameras are on them, and right before
tip off, I'm talking like minutes before tip off of
the All Star Game, Cheryl Miller walks over to Drysdale
sitting courtside, throws her a quarter zip jacket and makes
her an honorary coach, brings her over to the bench
(30:35):
to coach with her for the night. It was announced
in the arena, the crowd went crazy and it was
the kind of shit we love to see it, just
this women supporting women, making sure the legacy of the
game is remembered, making sure we're lifting as we rise.
It was just really, really freaking cool. So shout out Cheryl,
shout out Anne, and shout out those moments that feel
(30:56):
like they're where else but in women's sports. King of
Women's Sports, we have a lineup this week for the
rest of our shows that's going to blow your mind.
Tierna Davidson ahead of the US women's soccer team playing
in Paris, the legendary Abby Wombach to break down the NWSL,
the Olympic team, everything she's been doing since she retired.
(31:17):
Maggie Stephens, literally the greatest women's water polo player on
the Planet and more. That's all coming up this week.
As always, we love that you're listening, but we do
want you to get in the game every day too.
So here's our good game play of the day, and
it's an easy one. Listen to Flage's new album. It's
called Best of Both Worlds. She's got a Lil Wayne
(31:38):
feature on it, She's got some banger songs. And remember
that this is an LSU player national champion, still in college,
still playing, and has a full rap career in addition,
putting out an album, performing at the SP's, performing at
all these parties, like she really can't do it all
and she's so beloved. If you watched her walking around
(31:59):
the All Star and she just got it, she got
that it factor. So give Flages album and you listen,
give her some love. Oh we also need you to subscribe, rate,
and review. Thank you to those who have already done it.
We love to hear from you, and we especially love
two reviews that we saw. We got to read them. Okay.
H M Parodies wrote for one Star no equestrian sport coverage,
(32:23):
another sports show with no horseback riding sport coverage. It's
a massively popular industry with many disciplines. Men and women
compete against each other directly, even at the highest levels
like the Olympics. You know what, You're right, but it's
a little early to presume that we will not be
the leading coverer of dressage. It is a little presumptuous
to just assume that we're not going to be giving
(32:45):
you all the horseback riding content that you deserve. It
may be accurate, but you don't know that yet. We've
only done three shows, so hang in there with us.
You might get those horses you're looking for. You never know.
And also out to Cherokee Heel, who gave us five
stars and said this is gonna be fun. As someone
who played a rover in high school basketball because city
(33:07):
schools didn't think girls could run full court for forty minutes,
this podcast has long been wanted and needed. Congratulations. Are
you sure you're not a lesbian? You know I'm not.
You know I'm happily married to a man. But who
do we ever really know? You know I'm open. I'm
(33:29):
open to where life will take me. Thank you Cherokee
Heel for the review and for making sure I'm keeping
an open mind. You can hit us up on our
email Good Game at wondermedianetwork dot com or on social
at Sarah Spain on Twitter. You can even leave us
a voicemail message eight seven two two oh four five
oh seven oh thanks as always for listening. Come back tomorrow.
(33:50):
Good game, Alicia Gray, Good Game, Arika Glumbouale you people
who crowd the baggage carousel instead of taking two steps
back and then stepping up to grab their bag when
it arrives. And yes, I did come straight from an airport.
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
(34:13):
wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzi and Misha Jones. Our executive
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Jenny Kaplan, Emily Rutter, Breddy Martinez and
Grace Lynch. Production assistants from Lucy Jones and I'm Your
Host Sarah Spain h h
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