March 17, 2025 • 25 mins
It’s a sports smorgasbord of an episode, beginning with the biggest takeaways from Selection Sunday and moving into a little surfing, shooting, swimming, soccer, and sports that don’t start with S, too! Sarah opens up our overflowing inbox and voicemail to respond to some of the messages slices have been sending in. And finally… we reveal a special something y’all have been asking about for months.
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The NCAA women’s basketball bracket is here
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Leave us a voicemail at 872-204-5070 or send us a note at goodgame@wondermedianetwork.com
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Follow Sarah on social! Bluesky: @sarahspain.com Instagram: @Spain2323
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Follow producer Misha Jones! Bluesky: @mishthejrnalist.bsky.social Instagram: @mishthejrnalist
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Follow producer Alex Azzi! Bluesky: @byalexazzi.bsky.social
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're celebrating
Saint Patrick's Day by rewatching the Fugitive again just to
see Richard Kimball evade the Feds during the Chicago Saint
Patti's Day Parade. Classic cinema moment. Should I just realize
that movie is older than producer meiche? Damn? It's Monday,
March seventeenth, Happy Saint Patti's Day. Today's show is a
(00:22):
veritable sports smorgasboard, surfing, shooting, swimming, soccer, and also some
sports that don't start with an S two. There's just
so much stuff to talk about. We'll be reacting to
selections Sunday and our first look at the NCAA Women's
Basketball Tournament bracket. We'll be talking NWSL opening weekend and
sharing a few standout stories from a busy weekend of
(00:42):
sports that you may not have caught. Plus, I finally
had a little bit of time to catch up on
our very overflowing inbox, so I'm going to respond to
a handful of emails and voicemails from U slices as well,
and we'll reveal the big surprise we teased on Friday.
It's all coming up right after this Welcome back slices,
(01:07):
Happy Monday. Here's what you need to know today. First up,
college hoops, and yesterday the stage was set for what
could be one of the most exciting NCAA tournaments of
all time. So much talent, so many stars, so much parody.
In fact, as Holly Row mentioned on ESPN Selection Sunday Show,
there were thirteen regular season champions and twelve of them
(01:30):
lost in their conference attorneys. Tough job for the committee,
whether you agreed with their choices or not. As far
as entertainment goes, the bracket reveal did not disappoint. Given
us the goods. We got TikTok dances, ecstatic celebrations, six
teams going to the tourney for the first time, subsidei
from squads who didn't like their seeds, and impeccable ad
(01:50):
libbing from host l Duncan riffing on every team's reaction.
You can, of course find the full bracket online and
we'll link to it in our show notes as well.
But how about some big takeaways. Let's start with Corey
Close and the UCLA Bruins snagging the overall number one
seed for the first time in program history. Now, Don
Staley and South Carolina not impressed with that decision. They've
(02:12):
been the overall number one every year since twenty twenty one.
But the game Cocks still a number one seed and
their path to the final four looks damn good, so
Don Staley can be happy about that. The other two
top seeds Texas and USC, and if all four top
seeds advanced to the final four, we'll get a fourth
matchup of the season between USC and UCLA and a
(02:32):
fourth matchup between Texas and South Carolina. A couple more
things to watch for. In Region four. Spokane Yukon is
the number two seed. They'll meet Arkansas State, so congrats
to those first time dancers. Sorry, your reward is a
date with pagemakers in Yukon. More importantly, on that side
of the bracket, we could get a rematch of last
year's Elite eight contest between Yukon and USC. Yukon won
(02:55):
that one eighty to seventy three. Now to bummer not
to get that game later in the turn tournament because
Juju versus page will be a ratings bonanza. It still
will be wherever we might get it, but I'd like
to see that later in the tournament. Also of note,
Yukon will have to head west for the Sweet sixteen
for a third straight season now. Coach Gina Oriama criticized
(03:15):
the super Regional format when it debuted in twenty twenty three.
Now he and his Huskies will have to travel across
three time zones for a third straight time if they
advanced to the Sweet sixteen. Meantime, over in Region two Birmingham,
we got Duke and North Carolina as the number two
and number three seeds respectively. That's a fun rivalry setup
in that region. Another number two seed to watch for
(03:37):
TCU in Region three Birmingham. So this is a pretty
unreal story because you remember we told you that last
year they needed to hold open tryouts for students just
to fill a roster, and now they're a two seed
in the NCAA tournament this year. Also, Haley van Litt,
the star there a transfer to TCU for her final year,
could face her former team and coach at Louisville in
(03:59):
that region. And if you're wondering why you haven't heard
Notre Dame mentioned yet, it's a three seed for the
Fighting Irish, who looked like world beaters for much of
the season, but lost three of their last five games.
The good news for Hanna Hidalgo, Olivia Miles and company,
they still get to host their first two games in
the tournament. Two more cool stories back in Region one
Spokane Harvard the ten seed, they'll take on number seven
(04:21):
Michigan State. Now Harvard beat Columbia seventy four to seventy
one on Saturday to win the Ivy League Tournament for
the first time in school history, receiving the automatic bid
and returning to the Ncaattorney for the first time in
eighteen years. Now Harvard coach Carrie Moore took over this
program three years ago after the retirement of legendary head
coach Kathy Delaney Smith, who led the team to multiple
(04:43):
NCAA tournament appearances over forty years at the helm of
that program, including, of course, the team's historic upset of
the number one Stanford Cardinal as a sixteen seed in
nineteen ninety eight, the first ever number sixteen beating a
number one in NCAA Men's or women's tournament history, and
still the only time it's happened in the women's bracket.
(05:05):
Also shout out to producer Miches alma mater, William and
Mary on their first CAAA Championship win thanks to a
sixty six sixty three win over Campbell on Sunday afternoon,
giving them also their first NC double Attorney bid in
program history. Meish not only bald there, they now do
color commentary for the team's broadcasts. The fighting Miches are
(05:26):
going to take on high point in the first four
Now the most important part of the selection Sunday show,
in my opinion, obviously the cutaways to each team reacting
to its fate. I have a couple winners, NC State
and UNC Greensboro. We love the dancing, the Michigan Wolverines
because they had a dog partying with them. Iowa State
Cal Berkeley and first timers Fairley Dickinson, who all looked
(05:46):
appropriately psyched. Love their enthusiasm. And finally USC they had
a huge crowd, cheerleaders, a baby, a mascot, and this
giant window that took up the whole back wall. It
was a beautiful scene, very cool. As for the losers
of the announcement reaction the Carolinas South and North Carolina?
Were they bummed? Were they mad about their seeds? Where
(06:07):
they asleep? Did they not know they were on camera?
Between the Carolinas and Ohio State, it looked like a funeral,
not a selection Sunday show. Perk up, y'all. I don't
care if you're bummed about your seed. When you get
camera time on ESPN, you make it hot, honey, You twerk,
you jump, you scream, You're going dancing. Be excited all
right now that we do know who's going dance. In
(06:28):
a reminder to all of you, Top sixteen teams will
host at home. Then half the field will had to Birmingham,
Alabama for the Sweet sixteen and Elite Eight. The other
half will do their Sweet sixteen and Elite eight in Spokane, Washington.
Final four will be in Tampa, Florida. So start clearing
out your calendar now. Two of the first four games
kick things off on Wednesday. Two unrivaled hoops. ROSEBC defeated
(06:50):
the Laces in the first semifinal Sunday Night sixty three
fifty seven behind an unrivaled record thirty nine points from
Chelsea Gray, including the game winning three have a night Chelsea. Notably,
Kalia Copper still out for roseb C and Angel Reese
was sidelined as well. After injuring her surgically repaired left
hand in the team's regular season finale. No word yet
(07:11):
on whether she'll be available for that title game. In
the second semi final, a massive upset, the five to
nine Vinyl BC taken out top seed thirteen to one
Lunar Owls seventy three to seventy on a game winner
from Deerka hanby Ifisa Kllier put up thirty six, but
her team just couldn't get it done. Just the second
(07:32):
l of the season for the Owls and they come
up short of the final. So it'll be ROSEBC versus
VINYLBC in the unrivaled title game tonight at seven to
thirty pm Eastern. Each player on the championship club will
earn a cool fifty thousand dollars to College Hockey, where
next weekends Frozen four is set and all four top
seeded teams are in, though not without a few fireworks.
(07:55):
In the regional finals, Number one Wisconsin had to come
from behind to defeat Clerkson, entering the first intermission down
one nothing before going on to win the contest four
to one. Number two Ohio State, the defending national champions,
also had to battle back from a one to zero
deficit to Saint Lawrence, but went on to win that
one six to one. Looking ahead to this weekend's Frozen Four,
(08:15):
which begins Friday in Minneapolis, it'll be Wisconsin meeting number
four Minnesota in the semi finals, while Ohio State will
face off against number three Cornell. I think we know
who I'm rooting for. Let's go Red. Also, I have
to shout out Cornell defender Rory Gilde. She was diagnosed
with a brain tumor in twenty sixteen that led to
optic nerve Glioma was sidelined from any contact sports for
(08:38):
a year due to chemotherapy and lost the majority of
her eyesight in her right eye. And yet she is
still playing at the highest level. Y'all. This is like
the cutting edge, but with a better outcome. What a movie.
By the way, shout out Douglas Dorsey, Kate Moseley, the
Pemchenko Twist. If you guys haven't seen that, please come on. Okay,
(08:58):
back to real life. This year will mark the sixteenth
overall Frozen Four appearance for both Wisconsin and Minnesota, who
shared the NCAA record. Like I said, that gets going
on Friday to soccer and opening weekend of the NWSL
on Friday and Saturday. The usual suspects lit up the
score sheet with highlight reel goals, and some teams with
sleepy off seasons looked to still be asleep on the pitch,
(09:22):
like the Chicago Stars, who got whooped by defending champs
Orlando Pride six nothing. On Friday. Barbara Banda had two
goals and an assist to help the Pride to their
highest goal count in a single match and the most
goals ever by a team in an NWSL opening weekend match.
Sigh just week one, Sarah just week one. Elsewhere, the
(09:43):
Washington Spirit defeated the Houston Dash two to one, and
the Casey Current beat the Portland Thorns three to one
behind an opening minute goal from reigning MVP tem Mushawinga
and a Michelle Cooper banger from forty yards out. The
other three Saturday matches, Utah Royals versus BFC Seattle Rain
versus Got Them, and North Carolina Courage versus Racing Louisville
(10:03):
all ended in one to one draws. Speaking of Racing Louisville,
we goofed like big time. We somehow left them out
of our NWSL preview last Thursday, and I have to
say a big thank you to Deb from Chicago who
called us out and for a very good reason.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Wait for it, so listening to your NWSL preview list
and got all the way to the end and was like, wait,
they're missing a team. So I went back just to
make sure that I wasn't when I was ordering my coffee,
like not paying attention to Sarah, like not including Racing
(10:44):
Louisville in the fourteen teams that you guys previewed. Total
gut plunch to any Racing Louisville fan, and you're probably wondering, well,
what are you doing not being any Star fan in
you live in Chicago, and that would be a good question.
(11:06):
But my daughter plays for Racing Louisville and she's a
rookie this year.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
OMG, Deb and Deb's daughter, who I believe based on
my internet sleuthing skills, is Elajas. We are so sorry.
And what's weird is that I actually, like have a
soft spot in my heart for the racing team and
for Louisville because of my Red Stars ownership years. I
watched the team play in Louisville in the twenty twenty
one Women's Cup with Racing PSG and Bayern Munich, and
(11:34):
again later that season against the Spirit in the NWSL Championship.
It is a beautiful stadium, wonderful people. I actually became
buddies with Racing cohwn Or Chris Harding and Superstar chef
ed Lee on those trips. So I'm just not sure
how we forgot so our deepest apologies. Just here is
your very belated preview. Consistency was the name of the
(11:56):
game for Racing this offseason, as they returned the players
responsible for nearly seventy five percent of the club's total
minutes and goal contributions from last year. They also added
former NWSL Rookie of the Year Britney Balser and Canadian
national player Janine Sonis formerly known as Janine Becky, plus
five rookies from the collegiate ranks. It's also the second
year Bevan is at the Helm as head coach. We'll
(12:18):
see what she can do with a talented squad. Thank you,
deb for keeping us honest. Back to the action. So yesterday,
Angel CITYFC and the San Diego Wave closed out the
first week of games with a one to one draw.
It was some fancy footwork and a fine finish from
Melissa Thompson that tied that one up after the Wave
took an early lead. One note on that game. Late
(12:38):
Saturday night, Angel City Sidney LaRue, front of the show,
posted on social media that she would be stepping away
from the game for her mental health. She wrote, in part, quote,
to everyone who has supported me, loved me, and believed
in me. Thank you. This isn't goodbye. I will be
back just like always in true Sid fashion. End quote.
We're sending you love and sending you support. Sid. There
(12:58):
is nothing brave or stronger than knowing when to take
care of yourself and knowing when to ask for help.
More NWSL news. NWSL Boston announced on Friday that it's
officially changing its name from Boston Nation FC to something else.
The team expects to release the new name in the
coming weeks, and they posted a statement that read quote, Boston,
(13:20):
You've waited long enough. We are changing our club name
dash coming soon FC. End quote. One of my favorite
Boston sports fan friends texted me quote, going to have
to make it coming soon, FC, Jersey, wtf are they doing?
End quote, which is a fair point, I mean the
whole You've waited long enough only to make them wait
(13:42):
some more an announcement of an announcement. Yeah, that's tough,
and so is the fact that they've lost months of
runway where they could have had an established name, branding
and merch because of their false start launch. Better to
fix it, though, and get it right. So here's hoping
they do. We're rooting for your Boston or coming soon FC.
(14:06):
All right, we gotta take a quick break when we
come back alone branden surfing for two and doing it all.
Welcome back, slices. Let's continue our smorgasboard of sports. Shall
we a sports giz board if you will? And I
(14:26):
will First a shout out to the NYU women's basketball team,
who ran their win streak to sixty in a row
with their victory on Saturday over Gettysburg College in the
Elite eight of the Division three NCUBA Championship Tournament. The
Violets will face the University of Wisconsin Stout in the
national semi final on Thursday. Side note, I had no
idea that the NYU mascot was the Violets. Also, I
(14:49):
got a shout out Brnn Greenwald of Augustana University in
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, who competed in two nc DOUBLEA
Division two championship meets in one day. She started Saturday
with swimming, setting a personal best in the one hundred
free prelimbs, then drove to the track meet, thankfully just
five miles away, and set another personal best, this time
in the high jump at five foot eight. She missed
(15:11):
at five point ten, ended up tying for eighth place
and becoming an All American in track. She then rushed
back to the pool and finished eighth in the one
hundred free in All American finish and swimming as well
in the same day. And if you're impressed by all that,
I didn't even mention that on Wednesday she set a
Division two record in the fifty free style event prelimbs
(15:32):
and then won it all to become the fifty free
national champion. So shout out to Brent Greenwalt, I guess
you can have it all. Speaking of having it all,
I want all the starches. So don't forget about our
delicious bracket challenge. Starch Madness. Thank you for the recipes
you've already sent, including something called tater pigs. Which I'm
really excited about. Keep them coming. I'm already getting pumped
(15:55):
about cooking up some spuds and cobs and whatever else
you might send my way. Good game at one nder
medianetwork dot com is where you send the recipes. Once
we make the bracket, you'll vote for a final four,
and then I'll cook them, eat them and Declara winner.
All right, slices, It's time for another edition of Where
Else but Women's Sports? For this one, we head to Portugal,
where Jeanne de Fay, an Olympic bronze medalist in surfing,
(16:18):
is currently competing at stop number three on the World
Surf League Tour, the twenty twenty Fivemeo Ripcurl Pro, while
sixteen weeks pregnant. And she's not just competing at the event.
Defay actually won her opening heat and her round of
sixteen heat, moving on to the quarterfinals. Where else but
women's sports do we see doubles competing in singles, like
(16:39):
fellow surfer CHRISA Moore competing at the Paris Olympics last
summer and then days later announcing that she was pregnant.
Or tennis legend Serena Williams winning the twenty seventeen Australian
Open while carrying first child Alexis. Or beach volleyball star
Carrie Walsh Jennings, who won gold in the twenty twelve
Olympics while pregnant with her third child. Well, that was
(17:00):
or of a triple competing in a doubles situation, but
it counts. So fist, pump and whorah to jo Anne Hope.
The run continues elsewhere. Big high fives to Dana Holtzpurt
and fantastic freelance sports writer Roger Sherman, formerly of Espianation
and the Ringer, who combined to alert me to the
results of the NCUBA Rifle Championships down in Lexington, Kentucky.
(17:22):
Roger wrote on Blue Sky Quote today in Gender and Sports.
At the NCUBA Rifle Championships, one of the few NCUBA
sports not separated into men's and women's championships, female shooters
won both individual championships and five of six metal spots alone.
Braden reached the podium alongside them end quote alone. Braiden
(17:42):
is wild. So I dug into the results myself and
with the caveat that were going off names and appearance,
and we don't know if any of these athletes identify
as non Binaria or otherwise, it does appear that the
winners and five of six medal finishers in both individual
events were all women. Just that one sneaky braiden. Anyway,
we love to see it. We have to take another break.
(18:03):
When we come back, we announce our big reveal, Welcome
Back Slices. On Friday. We promised you a big reveal,
and here it is our first merch drop. Let's go.
(18:24):
We teamed up with the awesome folks at Breaking Tea
to create a Sarah Spain Slash Good Game collection, starting
with four T shirts. I'm a slice, good game, good
game for you, ask me about women's sports, and my
own personal motto unf withable. You can find the shirts
at Breaking Tea and via the link on our social
media posts where we're modeling the Goods Today show the world.
(18:47):
You're a fan of the best daily women's sports show
in the universe, also the only, but still absolutely the best.
I literally cannot wait to run into someone in the
real world wearing our merch I think I might literally cry.
And since I'm already getting vulnerable, I do have to
say thank you to all of you, Slices. Thank you
for listening, for supporting us, for asking for ways to
(19:11):
connect with us and the show, for doing your homework
when we give you the good game play of the day,
for demanding merch and wanting to wear it. We are
just really, truly so grateful. Me, mish Alex, the whole team.
It just feels like existing as an empowered and confident
woman in America in twenty twenty five is already sort
of an active resistance and talking about supporting and promoting
(19:34):
the badass women that make up the sports world, including
queer women, trans women, women of color, and any other
folks marginalized by gender or who want to throw up
a middle finger to those who wish to put us
in a certain lane or category. It just feels more
necessary than ever, so we want to keep doing it
and your support allows us to. So Thank you, so
so so so much, Slices. We love you, We hope
(19:57):
you love the merch, we hope you buy it in Rocket,
and we cannot wait to run into you wearing it.
Also speaking to merch, as you may have heard over
the last few weeks during the shows, I've been busy,
I've been traveling and I am headed back out of
town again to New York for a couple of days,
but when I get back, I will be home for
two whole weeks and those good game times Aurora FC
(20:19):
collab hats will finally be sent out. So thank you
for your patience, and don't forget Aurora FC kicks off
their season in May. Woo. We love that you're listening,
but we want you to get in the game every
day too, So we've got another good game play at
the day. Besides, of course going checking out the merchant
buying it. I mentioned that starch Madness bracket, so send
(20:40):
us those recipes. But there's also another bracket deserving of
a super shout out, and it's from Slice Amanda Vallo.
She is constantly sending us the funniest, most creative content,
and this time she created something she's calling the Good
Game Goat Team Bracket Challenge. Now, if we were doing
this behind the scenes, we might have some squabbles about
it team or two that's missing or one that we
(21:02):
would rather see in there, But honestly, she did a
damn good job with her selections and she saved us
the time of doing it ourselves. So we're rolling with
her picks. Okay, and today I'm going to announce the
left side of the bracket. Then tomorrow I'll reveal the
right side, and I'll post the bracket on social Instagram,
Blue Sky, Twitter X all those and put the links
in the show notes tomorrow. So if you want to
make your voice heard and vote for your go team,
(21:24):
fill it out, snap a pick and send it to
us a good game at Wondermedia neetwork dot com. Don't worry,
I'll remind you of all that tomorrow when I post
the bracket. Today, I'm just going to give you the
left side top left, including some paraphrase notes from Amanda's
fantastic descriptions. Number one seed the ninety nine ers who
left a legacy off the pitch as they embraced the
roles of mentors, advocates, broadcast announcers, in studio analysts, investors,
(21:49):
team owners, etc. Taken on. Number four seed the Rockford
Peaches of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, showing
us what's possible before it was possible and give it
us a damn good movie. Number two seed Yukon basketball,
the Sue Bird and Diana Tarasi era, an undefeated season,
multiple national championships, and one of the most entertaining and
(22:10):
engaging on off the court partnerships in life. Versus number
three seed, the twenty eleven World Cup champion Japanese national
soccer team, who brought joy and hope to an entire
nation and countless others in the wake of a devastating
earthquake and tsunami. All right bottom left side of the bracket.
Number one seed the dream On Team ninety six US
(22:32):
Olympics Basketball, who delivered on the biggest stage under the
pressure cooker of a home Olympics. Basically, they quote unquote
ushered it cruz skating through the tournament to gold in
the atl and helped launch the WNBA. They take on
number four seed Susan Butcher's I did Arod sled Dog team,
four time winners of the famous race. In nineteen eighty five,
(22:53):
Susan fended off a crazed moose but lost two of
her dogs. The team staged to comeback for the ages,
winning the next three consecutive I did Arod races. You're
pulling on my heartstrings with this one, Amanda, and you
know it. Moving on the number two seed, Golden Girls
twenty four US Olympic gymnastics team gold medal winners with Moxie,
(23:13):
they lapped the field despite their average age of twenty
two years versus number three seed. The twenty twenty four
US Women's Olympic rugby team that won a bronze medal
helped grow momentum for a professional women's rugby league and
gave us a loan Omar. Okay, that's a hell of
a collection of goat teams and that's just one half
of the bracket. The other half and your chance to
(23:35):
decide who survives in advances will come tomorrow. For now,
start thinking about your favorites and thanks again, Amanda. We
always love to hear from you, so hit us up
on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave
us a voicemail at eight seven two two oh four
fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review slaces.
It's easy watch. Friend of the show Madeline Hill of
(23:57):
the Sports Gossip podcast sharing a picture of seventy two
year old Bill Belichick and his twenty four year old
girlfriend doing the airplane rating minus infinity out of ten.
Can't unsee review. Apparently old Bill and his girlfriend Jordan
were doing beach yoga together and she wanted to share
(24:17):
a bunch of pictures with the world, and the one
that made it out to my eyeballs via Madeline's Blue
Sky account was Bill on his back, legs up extended
and Jordan in a white bathing suit with cutouts, balancing
on his feet, back arched, arms up, flying like an airplane,
just like my mom does with her grandkids. So yeah,
(24:40):
now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening, y'all,
See you tomorrow. Good Game, UCLA, Good Game, Vinyl BC
you NCAA tournament selection committee setting us up for USC
Yukon in the damn Elite eight. Come on man. Good
Game with Sarah Spain is an iheartwomen's sports production in
partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find
(25:03):
us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers
are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are
Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder. Our
editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez, and Grace lynch Our
associate producer is Lucy Jones, and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain.
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're celebrating
Saint Patrick's Day by rewatching the Fugitive again just to
see Richard Kimball evade the Feds during the Chicago Saint
Patti's Day Parade. Classic cinema moment. Should I just realize
that movie is older than producer meiche? Damn? It's Monday,
March seventeenth, Happy Saint Patti's Day. Today's show is a
(00:22):
veritable sports smorgasboard, surfing, shooting, swimming, soccer, and also some
sports that don't start with an S two. There's just
so much stuff to talk about. We'll be reacting to
selections Sunday and our first look at the NCAA Women's
Basketball Tournament bracket. We'll be talking NWSL opening weekend and
sharing a few standout stories from a busy weekend of
(00:42):
sports that you may not have caught. Plus, I finally
had a little bit of time to catch up on
our very overflowing inbox, so I'm going to respond to
a handful of emails and voicemails from U slices as well,
and we'll reveal the big surprise we teased on Friday.
It's all coming up right after this Welcome back slices,
(01:07):
Happy Monday. Here's what you need to know today. First up,
college hoops, and yesterday the stage was set for what
could be one of the most exciting NCAA tournaments of
all time. So much talent, so many stars, so much parody.
In fact, as Holly Row mentioned on ESPN Selection Sunday Show,
there were thirteen regular season champions and twelve of them
(01:30):
lost in their conference attorneys. Tough job for the committee,
whether you agreed with their choices or not. As far
as entertainment goes, the bracket reveal did not disappoint. Given
us the goods. We got TikTok dances, ecstatic celebrations, six
teams going to the tourney for the first time, subsidei
from squads who didn't like their seeds, and impeccable ad
(01:50):
libbing from host l Duncan riffing on every team's reaction.
You can, of course find the full bracket online and
we'll link to it in our show notes as well.
But how about some big takeaways. Let's start with Corey
Close and the UCLA Bruins snagging the overall number one
seed for the first time in program history. Now, Don
Staley and South Carolina not impressed with that decision. They've
(02:12):
been the overall number one every year since twenty twenty one.
But the game Cocks still a number one seed and
their path to the final four looks damn good, so
Don Staley can be happy about that. The other two
top seeds Texas and USC, and if all four top
seeds advanced to the final four, we'll get a fourth
matchup of the season between USC and UCLA and a
(02:32):
fourth matchup between Texas and South Carolina. A couple more
things to watch for. In Region four. Spokane Yukon is
the number two seed. They'll meet Arkansas State, so congrats
to those first time dancers. Sorry, your reward is a
date with pagemakers in Yukon. More importantly, on that side
of the bracket, we could get a rematch of last
year's Elite eight contest between Yukon and USC. Yukon won
(02:55):
that one eighty to seventy three. Now to bummer not
to get that game later in the turn tournament because
Juju versus page will be a ratings bonanza. It still
will be wherever we might get it, but I'd like
to see that later in the tournament. Also of note,
Yukon will have to head west for the Sweet sixteen
for a third straight season now. Coach Gina Oriama criticized
(03:15):
the super Regional format when it debuted in twenty twenty three.
Now he and his Huskies will have to travel across
three time zones for a third straight time if they
advanced to the Sweet sixteen. Meantime, over in Region two Birmingham,
we got Duke and North Carolina as the number two
and number three seeds respectively. That's a fun rivalry setup
in that region. Another number two seed to watch for
(03:37):
TCU in Region three Birmingham. So this is a pretty
unreal story because you remember we told you that last
year they needed to hold open tryouts for students just
to fill a roster, and now they're a two seed
in the NCAA tournament this year. Also, Haley van Litt,
the star there a transfer to TCU for her final year,
could face her former team and coach at Louisville in
(03:59):
that region. And if you're wondering why you haven't heard
Notre Dame mentioned yet, it's a three seed for the
Fighting Irish, who looked like world beaters for much of
the season, but lost three of their last five games.
The good news for Hanna Hidalgo, Olivia Miles and company,
they still get to host their first two games in
the tournament. Two more cool stories back in Region one
Spokane Harvard the ten seed, they'll take on number seven
(04:21):
Michigan State. Now Harvard beat Columbia seventy four to seventy
one on Saturday to win the Ivy League Tournament for
the first time in school history, receiving the automatic bid
and returning to the Ncaattorney for the first time in
eighteen years. Now Harvard coach Carrie Moore took over this
program three years ago after the retirement of legendary head
coach Kathy Delaney Smith, who led the team to multiple
(04:43):
NCAA tournament appearances over forty years at the helm of
that program, including, of course, the team's historic upset of
the number one Stanford Cardinal as a sixteen seed in
nineteen ninety eight, the first ever number sixteen beating a
number one in NCAA Men's or women's tournament history, and
still the only time it's happened in the women's bracket.
(05:05):
Also shout out to producer Miches alma mater, William and
Mary on their first CAAA Championship win thanks to a
sixty six sixty three win over Campbell on Sunday afternoon,
giving them also their first NC double Attorney bid in
program history. Meish not only bald there, they now do
color commentary for the team's broadcasts. The fighting Miches are
(05:26):
going to take on high point in the first four
Now the most important part of the selection Sunday show,
in my opinion, obviously the cutaways to each team reacting
to its fate. I have a couple winners, NC State
and UNC Greensboro. We love the dancing, the Michigan Wolverines
because they had a dog partying with them. Iowa State
Cal Berkeley and first timers Fairley Dickinson, who all looked
(05:46):
appropriately psyched. Love their enthusiasm. And finally USC they had
a huge crowd, cheerleaders, a baby, a mascot, and this
giant window that took up the whole back wall. It
was a beautiful scene, very cool. As for the losers
of the announcement reaction the Carolinas South and North Carolina?
Were they bummed? Were they mad about their seeds? Where
(06:07):
they asleep? Did they not know they were on camera?
Between the Carolinas and Ohio State, it looked like a funeral,
not a selection Sunday show. Perk up, y'all. I don't
care if you're bummed about your seed. When you get
camera time on ESPN, you make it hot, honey, You twerk,
you jump, you scream, You're going dancing. Be excited all
right now that we do know who's going dance. In
(06:28):
a reminder to all of you, Top sixteen teams will
host at home. Then half the field will had to Birmingham,
Alabama for the Sweet sixteen and Elite Eight. The other
half will do their Sweet sixteen and Elite eight in Spokane, Washington.
Final four will be in Tampa, Florida. So start clearing
out your calendar now. Two of the first four games
kick things off on Wednesday. Two unrivaled hoops. ROSEBC defeated
(06:50):
the Laces in the first semifinal Sunday Night sixty three
fifty seven behind an unrivaled record thirty nine points from
Chelsea Gray, including the game winning three have a night Chelsea. Notably,
Kalia Copper still out for roseb C and Angel Reese
was sidelined as well. After injuring her surgically repaired left
hand in the team's regular season finale. No word yet
(07:11):
on whether she'll be available for that title game. In
the second semi final, a massive upset, the five to
nine Vinyl BC taken out top seed thirteen to one
Lunar Owls seventy three to seventy on a game winner
from Deerka hanby Ifisa Kllier put up thirty six, but
her team just couldn't get it done. Just the second
(07:32):
l of the season for the Owls and they come
up short of the final. So it'll be ROSEBC versus
VINYLBC in the unrivaled title game tonight at seven to
thirty pm Eastern. Each player on the championship club will
earn a cool fifty thousand dollars to College Hockey, where
next weekends Frozen four is set and all four top
seeded teams are in, though not without a few fireworks.
(07:55):
In the regional finals, Number one Wisconsin had to come
from behind to defeat Clerkson, entering the first intermission down
one nothing before going on to win the contest four
to one. Number two Ohio State, the defending national champions,
also had to battle back from a one to zero
deficit to Saint Lawrence, but went on to win that
one six to one. Looking ahead to this weekend's Frozen Four,
(08:15):
which begins Friday in Minneapolis, it'll be Wisconsin meeting number
four Minnesota in the semi finals, while Ohio State will
face off against number three Cornell. I think we know
who I'm rooting for. Let's go Red. Also, I have
to shout out Cornell defender Rory Gilde. She was diagnosed
with a brain tumor in twenty sixteen that led to
optic nerve Glioma was sidelined from any contact sports for
(08:38):
a year due to chemotherapy and lost the majority of
her eyesight in her right eye. And yet she is
still playing at the highest level. Y'all. This is like
the cutting edge, but with a better outcome. What a movie.
By the way, shout out Douglas Dorsey, Kate Moseley, the
Pemchenko Twist. If you guys haven't seen that, please come on. Okay,
(08:58):
back to real life. This year will mark the sixteenth
overall Frozen Four appearance for both Wisconsin and Minnesota, who
shared the NCAA record. Like I said, that gets going
on Friday to soccer and opening weekend of the NWSL
on Friday and Saturday. The usual suspects lit up the
score sheet with highlight reel goals, and some teams with
sleepy off seasons looked to still be asleep on the pitch,
(09:22):
like the Chicago Stars, who got whooped by defending champs
Orlando Pride six nothing. On Friday. Barbara Banda had two
goals and an assist to help the Pride to their
highest goal count in a single match and the most
goals ever by a team in an NWSL opening weekend match.
Sigh just week one, Sarah just week one. Elsewhere, the
(09:43):
Washington Spirit defeated the Houston Dash two to one, and
the Casey Current beat the Portland Thorns three to one
behind an opening minute goal from reigning MVP tem Mushawinga
and a Michelle Cooper banger from forty yards out. The
other three Saturday matches, Utah Royals versus BFC Seattle Rain
versus Got Them, and North Carolina Courage versus Racing Louisville
(10:03):
all ended in one to one draws. Speaking of Racing Louisville,
we goofed like big time. We somehow left them out
of our NWSL preview last Thursday, and I have to
say a big thank you to Deb from Chicago who
called us out and for a very good reason.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Wait for it, so listening to your NWSL preview list
and got all the way to the end and was like, wait,
they're missing a team. So I went back just to
make sure that I wasn't when I was ordering my coffee,
like not paying attention to Sarah, like not including Racing
(10:44):
Louisville in the fourteen teams that you guys previewed. Total
gut plunch to any Racing Louisville fan, and you're probably wondering, well,
what are you doing not being any Star fan in
you live in Chicago, and that would be a good question.
(11:06):
But my daughter plays for Racing Louisville and she's a
rookie this year.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
OMG, Deb and Deb's daughter, who I believe based on
my internet sleuthing skills, is Elajas. We are so sorry.
And what's weird is that I actually, like have a
soft spot in my heart for the racing team and
for Louisville because of my Red Stars ownership years. I
watched the team play in Louisville in the twenty twenty
one Women's Cup with Racing PSG and Bayern Munich, and
(11:34):
again later that season against the Spirit in the NWSL Championship.
It is a beautiful stadium, wonderful people. I actually became
buddies with Racing cohwn Or Chris Harding and Superstar chef
ed Lee on those trips. So I'm just not sure
how we forgot so our deepest apologies. Just here is
your very belated preview. Consistency was the name of the
(11:56):
game for Racing this offseason, as they returned the players
responsible for nearly seventy five percent of the club's total
minutes and goal contributions from last year. They also added
former NWSL Rookie of the Year Britney Balser and Canadian
national player Janine Sonis formerly known as Janine Becky, plus
five rookies from the collegiate ranks. It's also the second
year Bevan is at the Helm as head coach. We'll
(12:18):
see what she can do with a talented squad. Thank you,
deb for keeping us honest. Back to the action. So yesterday,
Angel CITYFC and the San Diego Wave closed out the
first week of games with a one to one draw.
It was some fancy footwork and a fine finish from
Melissa Thompson that tied that one up after the Wave
took an early lead. One note on that game. Late
(12:38):
Saturday night, Angel City Sidney LaRue, front of the show,
posted on social media that she would be stepping away
from the game for her mental health. She wrote, in part, quote,
to everyone who has supported me, loved me, and believed
in me. Thank you. This isn't goodbye. I will be
back just like always in true Sid fashion. End quote.
We're sending you love and sending you support. Sid. There
(12:58):
is nothing brave or stronger than knowing when to take
care of yourself and knowing when to ask for help.
More NWSL news. NWSL Boston announced on Friday that it's
officially changing its name from Boston Nation FC to something else.
The team expects to release the new name in the
coming weeks, and they posted a statement that read quote, Boston,
(13:20):
You've waited long enough. We are changing our club name
dash coming soon FC. End quote. One of my favorite
Boston sports fan friends texted me quote, going to have
to make it coming soon, FC, Jersey, wtf are they doing?
End quote, which is a fair point, I mean the
whole You've waited long enough only to make them wait
(13:42):
some more an announcement of an announcement. Yeah, that's tough,
and so is the fact that they've lost months of
runway where they could have had an established name, branding
and merch because of their false start launch. Better to
fix it, though, and get it right. So here's hoping
they do. We're rooting for your Boston or coming soon FC.
(14:06):
All right, we gotta take a quick break when we
come back alone branden surfing for two and doing it all.
Welcome back, slices. Let's continue our smorgasboard of sports. Shall
we a sports giz board if you will? And I
(14:26):
will First a shout out to the NYU women's basketball team,
who ran their win streak to sixty in a row
with their victory on Saturday over Gettysburg College in the
Elite eight of the Division three NCUBA Championship Tournament. The
Violets will face the University of Wisconsin Stout in the
national semi final on Thursday. Side note, I had no
idea that the NYU mascot was the Violets. Also, I
(14:49):
got a shout out Brnn Greenwald of Augustana University in
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, who competed in two nc DOUBLEA
Division two championship meets in one day. She started Saturday
with swimming, setting a personal best in the one hundred
free prelimbs, then drove to the track meet, thankfully just
five miles away, and set another personal best, this time
in the high jump at five foot eight. She missed
(15:11):
at five point ten, ended up tying for eighth place
and becoming an All American in track. She then rushed
back to the pool and finished eighth in the one
hundred free in All American finish and swimming as well
in the same day. And if you're impressed by all that,
I didn't even mention that on Wednesday she set a
Division two record in the fifty free style event prelimbs
(15:32):
and then won it all to become the fifty free
national champion. So shout out to Brent Greenwalt, I guess
you can have it all. Speaking of having it all,
I want all the starches. So don't forget about our
delicious bracket challenge. Starch Madness. Thank you for the recipes
you've already sent, including something called tater pigs. Which I'm
really excited about. Keep them coming. I'm already getting pumped
(15:55):
about cooking up some spuds and cobs and whatever else
you might send my way. Good game at one nder
medianetwork dot com is where you send the recipes. Once
we make the bracket, you'll vote for a final four,
and then I'll cook them, eat them and Declara winner.
All right, slices, It's time for another edition of Where
Else but Women's Sports? For this one, we head to Portugal,
where Jeanne de Fay, an Olympic bronze medalist in surfing,
(16:18):
is currently competing at stop number three on the World
Surf League Tour, the twenty twenty Fivemeo Ripcurl Pro, while
sixteen weeks pregnant. And she's not just competing at the event.
Defay actually won her opening heat and her round of
sixteen heat, moving on to the quarterfinals. Where else but
women's sports do we see doubles competing in singles, like
(16:39):
fellow surfer CHRISA Moore competing at the Paris Olympics last
summer and then days later announcing that she was pregnant.
Or tennis legend Serena Williams winning the twenty seventeen Australian
Open while carrying first child Alexis. Or beach volleyball star
Carrie Walsh Jennings, who won gold in the twenty twelve
Olympics while pregnant with her third child. Well, that was
(17:00):
or of a triple competing in a doubles situation, but
it counts. So fist, pump and whorah to jo Anne Hope.
The run continues elsewhere. Big high fives to Dana Holtzpurt
and fantastic freelance sports writer Roger Sherman, formerly of Espianation
and the Ringer, who combined to alert me to the
results of the NCUBA Rifle Championships down in Lexington, Kentucky.
(17:22):
Roger wrote on Blue Sky Quote today in Gender and Sports.
At the NCUBA Rifle Championships, one of the few NCUBA
sports not separated into men's and women's championships, female shooters
won both individual championships and five of six metal spots alone.
Braden reached the podium alongside them end quote alone. Braiden
(17:42):
is wild. So I dug into the results myself and
with the caveat that were going off names and appearance,
and we don't know if any of these athletes identify
as non Binaria or otherwise, it does appear that the
winners and five of six medal finishers in both individual
events were all women. Just that one sneaky braiden. Anyway,
we love to see it. We have to take another break.
(18:03):
When we come back, we announce our big reveal, Welcome
Back Slices. On Friday. We promised you a big reveal,
and here it is our first merch drop. Let's go.
(18:24):
We teamed up with the awesome folks at Breaking Tea
to create a Sarah Spain Slash Good Game collection, starting
with four T shirts. I'm a slice, good game, good
game for you, ask me about women's sports, and my
own personal motto unf withable. You can find the shirts
at Breaking Tea and via the link on our social
media posts where we're modeling the Goods Today show the world.
(18:47):
You're a fan of the best daily women's sports show
in the universe, also the only, but still absolutely the best.
I literally cannot wait to run into someone in the
real world wearing our merch I think I might literally cry.
And since I'm already getting vulnerable, I do have to
say thank you to all of you, Slices. Thank you
for listening, for supporting us, for asking for ways to
(19:11):
connect with us and the show, for doing your homework
when we give you the good game play of the day,
for demanding merch and wanting to wear it. We are
just really, truly so grateful. Me, mish Alex, the whole team.
It just feels like existing as an empowered and confident
woman in America in twenty twenty five is already sort
of an active resistance and talking about supporting and promoting
(19:34):
the badass women that make up the sports world, including
queer women, trans women, women of color, and any other
folks marginalized by gender or who want to throw up
a middle finger to those who wish to put us
in a certain lane or category. It just feels more
necessary than ever, so we want to keep doing it
and your support allows us to. So Thank you, so
so so so much, Slices. We love you, We hope
(19:57):
you love the merch, we hope you buy it in Rocket,
and we cannot wait to run into you wearing it.
Also speaking to merch, as you may have heard over
the last few weeks during the shows, I've been busy,
I've been traveling and I am headed back out of
town again to New York for a couple of days,
but when I get back, I will be home for
two whole weeks and those good game times Aurora FC
(20:19):
collab hats will finally be sent out. So thank you
for your patience, and don't forget Aurora FC kicks off
their season in May. Woo. We love that you're listening,
but we want you to get in the game every
day too, So we've got another good game play at
the day. Besides, of course going checking out the merchant
buying it. I mentioned that starch Madness bracket, so send
(20:40):
us those recipes. But there's also another bracket deserving of
a super shout out, and it's from Slice Amanda Vallo.
She is constantly sending us the funniest, most creative content,
and this time she created something she's calling the Good
Game Goat Team Bracket Challenge. Now, if we were doing
this behind the scenes, we might have some squabbles about
it team or two that's missing or one that we
(21:02):
would rather see in there, But honestly, she did a
damn good job with her selections and she saved us
the time of doing it ourselves. So we're rolling with
her picks. Okay, and today I'm going to announce the
left side of the bracket. Then tomorrow I'll reveal the
right side, and I'll post the bracket on social Instagram,
Blue Sky, Twitter X all those and put the links
in the show notes tomorrow. So if you want to
make your voice heard and vote for your go team,
(21:24):
fill it out, snap a pick and send it to
us a good game at Wondermedia neetwork dot com. Don't worry,
I'll remind you of all that tomorrow when I post
the bracket. Today, I'm just going to give you the
left side top left, including some paraphrase notes from Amanda's
fantastic descriptions. Number one seed the ninety nine ers who
left a legacy off the pitch as they embraced the
roles of mentors, advocates, broadcast announcers, in studio analysts, investors,
(21:49):
team owners, etc. Taken on. Number four seed the Rockford
Peaches of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, showing
us what's possible before it was possible and give it
us a damn good movie. Number two seed Yukon basketball,
the Sue Bird and Diana Tarasi era, an undefeated season,
multiple national championships, and one of the most entertaining and
(22:10):
engaging on off the court partnerships in life. Versus number
three seed, the twenty eleven World Cup champion Japanese national
soccer team, who brought joy and hope to an entire
nation and countless others in the wake of a devastating
earthquake and tsunami. All right bottom left side of the bracket.
Number one seed the dream On Team ninety six US
(22:32):
Olympics Basketball, who delivered on the biggest stage under the
pressure cooker of a home Olympics. Basically, they quote unquote
ushered it cruz skating through the tournament to gold in
the atl and helped launch the WNBA. They take on
number four seed Susan Butcher's I did Arod sled Dog team,
four time winners of the famous race. In nineteen eighty five,
(22:53):
Susan fended off a crazed moose but lost two of
her dogs. The team staged to comeback for the ages,
winning the next three consecutive I did Arod races. You're
pulling on my heartstrings with this one, Amanda, and you
know it. Moving on the number two seed, Golden Girls
twenty four US Olympic gymnastics team gold medal winners with Moxie,
(23:13):
they lapped the field despite their average age of twenty
two years versus number three seed. The twenty twenty four
US Women's Olympic rugby team that won a bronze medal
helped grow momentum for a professional women's rugby league and
gave us a loan Omar. Okay, that's a hell of
a collection of goat teams and that's just one half
of the bracket. The other half and your chance to
(23:35):
decide who survives in advances will come tomorrow. For now,
start thinking about your favorites and thanks again, Amanda. We
always love to hear from you, so hit us up
on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave
us a voicemail at eight seven two two oh four
fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review slaces.
It's easy watch. Friend of the show Madeline Hill of
(23:57):
the Sports Gossip podcast sharing a picture of seventy two
year old Bill Belichick and his twenty four year old
girlfriend doing the airplane rating minus infinity out of ten.
Can't unsee review. Apparently old Bill and his girlfriend Jordan
were doing beach yoga together and she wanted to share
(24:17):
a bunch of pictures with the world, and the one
that made it out to my eyeballs via Madeline's Blue
Sky account was Bill on his back, legs up extended
and Jordan in a white bathing suit with cutouts, balancing
on his feet, back arched, arms up, flying like an airplane,
just like my mom does with her grandkids. So yeah,
(24:40):
now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening, y'all,
See you tomorrow. Good Game, UCLA, Good Game, Vinyl BC
you NCAA tournament selection committee setting us up for USC
Yukon in the damn Elite eight. Come on man. Good
Game with Sarah Spain is an iheartwomen's sports production in
partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find
(25:03):
us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers
are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are
Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder. Our
editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez, and Grace lynch Our
associate producer is Lucy Jones, and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain.
Host
Sarah Spain
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