The Real Tea with Annie Costabile

Annie Costabile of Front Office Sports joins Sarah to talk WNBA, Napheesa Collier’s MVP campaign, making the move from the Chicago Sun-Times to her new gig, and a little softball, including NiJaree Canady’s impact on Texas Tech softball and the way her 7-figure NIL contracts could affect salaries at the professional level. Plus, PWHL Seattle and PWHL Vancouver have rounded out their rosters, Allie Quigley says an accidental Irish goodbye, and another edition of Gimme a Minute with Big Citrus that’s all about snap judgments.

• The full PWHL expansion draft results are here

• Vote for the players you want to see in the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game here

• Read Philip Bump's column on youth sports here

• Watch Kendall Fletcher tell the US Women TST team about her IVF baby here

• Leave us a voicemail at 872-204-5070 or send us a note at [e-mail] 

• Follow Sarah on social! Bluesky: @sarahspain.com Instagram: @Spain2323

• Follow producer Misha Jones! Bluesky: @mishthejrnalist.bsky.social Instagram: @mishthejrnalist

• Follow producer Alex Azzi! Bluesky: @byalexazzi.bsky.social

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're considering
dyeing our hair bright pink to match the stud buds.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Can we pull it off?

Speaker 1 (00:08):
It's Thursday, July twelfth, and on today's show, we'll be
chatting with Annie Costable, now a front office sports, about
our new gig, the biggest surprises so far this WNBA season,
and the historic tea that fuels today's rivalries. Plus a
reminder that your fandom comes with a side of civic duty.
Is TBA a worthwhile cause? And an accidental irish Goodbye?

(00:29):
It's all coming up right after this welcome back slices.
Here's what you need to know today. Let's start with hockey.
The PWHL expansion Draft was Monday night, and wow, let's
just say Vancouver and Seattle should both be in contention

(00:49):
for the Walter Cup in their inaugural seasons. Both teams
entered Monday night's draft having already signed five players during
the initial signing window, but they're now up to twelve
apiece following a seven round snake draft, and Couver solidified
its reputation as a defensive giant by selecting Ottawa defender
Ashton Bell with the first pick of the night, while
Seattle added a slew of offensive weapons, with selections including

(01:09):
Boston's Hannahbilka, New York's Jesse Aldridge, and Toronto's Julia Gosling.
We'll link to the full draft results in the show
Notes to the WNBA. Former Chicago skyguard Ali Quigley has
officially announced her retirement from basketball, three years after she
played her last game. In an essay published and The
Player's Tribune on Tuesday, Quigley wrote that she didn't mean
to irish goodbye the WNBA, but after one off season

(01:32):
turned into two, and two seasons off turned into three.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
She realized she was done.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
Quigley and her wife, Courtney Van der Slute, also welcomed
their first child, Jana Christine, earlier this year. Quigley played
fourteen seasons in the WNBA, spending nearly her entire career
with her hometown team, the Chicago Sky.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
She retires as a.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Three time All Star and four time three point shootout champion,
a record for both the WNBA and NBA for shootout wins.
Congrats to Ali, But between this and Courtney's ACL injury,
I guess I got to put the Vander quig shirt
I brought back out for this season back in my closet.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
More WNBA.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
The Dallas Wings will be without Ty Harris for the
rest of the season after the guard underwent successful knee
surgery on Tuesday. Harris played five games to start the season,
averaging four point six points, but had been out since
late May with a knee injury. In a statement, the
Wings said Harris is expected to make a full recovery.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
More hoops.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
Letitia me Here is back with the Golden State Valkyries.
The former South Carolina standout played the last two seasons
with the Atlanta Dream and then attended training camp with
Golden State before getting waived ahead of the start of
the season. But on Sunday, the Valkyrie announced that the
team had re signed to me Here after waving kaya
Linskins and That's not All.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
On Tuesday, with Julie van.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Leu heading off to compete in the Summer's EuroBasket Tournament,
the Valks announce that the team has also signed Aerial Powers.
More WNBA All Star voting gets underway today at two
pm Eastern and runs through Saturday, June twenty eighth. Over
the next couple weeks, fans will be able to vote
for which players they think should be starters in this
year's All Star festivities, which will be held in Indianapolis's
Gainbridge Field House on July nineteenth. Fans account for fifty

(03:06):
percent of the vote, while current players and media account
for twenty five percent each. During the voting window, fans
may submit one ballot each day via WNBA dot com
and the WNBA app. We'll link to the voting page
in our show notes, so make sure to get those
ballots in. To swimming, Canadian superstar and three time Olympic
gold medalist Summer McIntosh set two world records this week

(03:28):
at Canadian national team trials. First, on Saturday, the eighteen
year old broke the world record in the four hundred
meter freestyle, taking more than a second off of the
previous mark set by Ariana Titmas of Australia in twenty
twenty three.

Speaker 2 (03:40):
Then, on Monday night.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
McIntosh broke the world record in the two hundred meter
individual medley, which was previously set by Hungary Katinka Jozu
in twenty fifteen. Ann McIntosh is not done yet. We're
recording this ahead of Wednesday night's four hundred meter im
final where she could be on world record watch again.
This all sets up an exciting showdown ahead of next
month's World Championships in Singapore, where McIntosh is expected to

(04:03):
go head to head against US DR Katie.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Ldeki in the four hundred meter free.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
McIntosh also has the chance at that competition to become
the only swimmer other than Michael Phelps, to win five
individual gold medals at a single World Championship competition.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
To softball and.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
A little bit of ratings news, ESPN announced that this
year's women's College World Series was the most watched in history,
averaging one point two million viewers per game, up twenty
four percent year over year, and the finals set its
own viewership record, with the best of three series between
Texas and Texas Tech averaging two point two million viewers.
We love to see it. Finally, a reminder that albeit

(04:39):
tonight's Aurora FC game, when our side takes on the
Chicago City Dutch Lines at TCO Stadium in Egan, Minnesota,
if you're around, come say hi and get a good
game sticker. All right, slices, it's time for another edition
of Give Me a Minute. Although I did like the
suggestion that we call this the squeeze.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
So we're so calling this a TBA name.

Speaker 1 (05:01):
Let's bring in producer Alex Hi Alex Hello, and producer
me Shai me Zip.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
You guys like the squeeze, I do, because the juice
is worth the squeeze.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
You know, the juice is worth the squeeze. All right, Well,
we may be back next time with the new name.
For this time, we'll call it give me a minute,
but I think we're gonna need about five for this one.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
So today I wanted to talk about a mistake I made.
I made the mistake of using social media to talk
about a tough topic, and it's something that I've really
stopped doing in recent years. I used to spend a
lot of time on Twitter and Facebook and other places
engaging with folks, trying to talk through tough ideas, trying
to discourage problematic thinking, or shout down stereotypes and bullshit
holding women back in the sports world, or try to

(05:42):
discourage the spread of wrongheaded, moronic ideas about serious issues
that I was covering in sports, like domestic violence and
sexual assault. It felt worth it at the time, but
as Twitter got more and more full of bots and
engagement started to be paid for.

Speaker 2 (05:55):
I stopped using it for.

Speaker 1 (05:56):
That entirely, but Tuesday night on Blue Sky, I dipped
a toe in. I wanted to offer up a thought
on the folks that I saw attacking Simone Biles for
what they considered walking back her stance supporting trans athletes.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
Let me catch you up on this.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
So noted trans phobe and terrible person, Riley Gains responded
to a tweet celebrating a high school softball team state
championship win, and she wrote comments off lol to be
expected when your star player is a boy. Biles responded,
You're truly sick all of this campaigning because you lost
a race, straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting

(06:30):
the trans community and perhaps finding way to make sports inclusive,
or creating a new avenue where trans feels safe in sports,
maybe a transgender category in all sports, but instead you
bully them. One thing's for sure is no one in
sports is safe with you around now.

Speaker 2 (06:46):
Predictably, hordes of.

Speaker 1 (06:47):
Awful people started attacking Biles, including Riley Gains herself, weaponizing
Biles victimization by doctor Larry Nassar. So yesterday, in light
of all of that, Biles posted this I wanted to
follow up for my last tweets. I've always believed competitive
equity and inclusivity are both essential in sport. The current
system doesn't adequately balance these important principles, which often leads
to frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn't help for

(07:09):
me to get personal with Riley, which.

Speaker 2 (07:11):
I apologize for.

Speaker 1 (07:12):
These are sensitive, complicated issues that I truly don't have
all the answers or solutions to, but I believe it
starts with empathy and respect. I was not advocating for
policies that compromise fairness in women's sports. My objection is
to be singling out children for public scrutiny in ways
that feel personal and harmful. Individual athletes, especially kids, should
never be the focus of criticism of a flawed system
they have no control over. I believe sports organizations have

(07:33):
a responsibility to come up with rules supporting inclusion while
maintaining fair competition. We all want a future for sport
that is fair, inclusive, and respectful. Xoxo, Simone. Now, I
saw a lot of folks alleging that Biles was a
weak ally, that she backtracked on her support, and that
she apologized to Riley Gaines, who isn't deserving of an apology.
I disagreed, so I posted to Blue Sky Simone apologizing

(07:55):
for taking a personal shot at Riley g while reiterating
her belief in prioritizing inclusive while also seeking fairness. Isn't
backtracking or being a bad ally. Folks are still allowed
to care about their own behavior even if others are trash,
and there is nuance to the convo, which is what
I want to talk about with y'all today, Alex and meish,
So let's start the clock.

Speaker 2 (08:16):
Now.

Speaker 1 (08:17):
I'm of the opinion that it wasn't necessary for Biles
to follow up, but I also understand that if you
behave in a way that you normally wouldn't or a
way that you don't approve of, when others do it,
you might feel compelled to apologize for that. I made
a rule for myself long ago to not go tit
for tat with people who harassed or attacked me online.
Adding more hate to the space via personal attacks just
didn't really seem like a great solution.

Speaker 2 (08:37):
To the problem.

Speaker 1 (08:38):
Plus, correct messages that I believe in are weakened by
ad homin and bullshit. They stand alone without that stuff,
and in my life, I don't ever engage with people
that way. So why get into shouting matches and hurl
insults just because I'm online.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
That's not who I am.

Speaker 1 (08:52):
So knowing that about myself, I understand perhaps why Simone
chose to post that and to follow up with her
thoughts on how the topic is nuanced and worth discussing.
Some of the responses I got to posting that about
Biles assumed I was muddying the water on inclusion or
using nuance as a way to obfuscate for problematic ideas
about trans inclusion. But I've made clear on this show
and everywhere else how I feel about trans inclusion in sport.

(09:15):
Being afraid to engage in conversation about it and refusing
to acknowledge that there is nuance isn't going to help
the cause. In my opinion, there's nuance. There's different policy
at different levels. There's bullshit mandatory DNA testing that also
harms CIS, women with DSD or naturally high levels of
testosterone that we should talk about. There's bullshit executive orders
that are trying to ban participation at every single level,

(09:36):
regardless of policy. So there's a lot to discuss, and
I think if your main goal is just to win
an online war with Riley Gains, and you think you're
seeding ground by acknowledging nuance you've already lost, that's not
the goal. The goal is to convince more people to
embrace inclusion while feeling good about fairness and policy across
different levels. So if you're attacking folks for offering up
that there's nuance at all, I just don't think that's

(09:58):
the way. While I was thinking of all of this,
I also got a note or two from some of
you about having Ashlyn Harris on the show as part
of a series we're doing now. While I understand people
have strong opinions about her and believes about what happened
between her and her ex that may or may not
be true, I honestly can't tell you that because I
wasn't in their marriage, you're allowed to have those opinions.
I still encourage you to listen to the show to

(10:18):
be able to have grace and curiosity about people, because
it feels like life has become toxically informed by Internet behavior,
with everything requiring an immediate black and white answer. A
villain and a hero an uplifting of someone or a
cancelation of them. And those two moments of my comment
about Biles and the comments I was getting about Ashland
happening sort of concurrently reminded me that at this stage

(10:41):
of my life, I'm trying to do more listening, more understanding,
and more allowing for grace as opposed to attacking, judging
or assuming. It's better for my mental health and interactions
with people in the world, and it's better for the
people around me, for whom I offer more compassion and
a chance to evolve and improve and explain themselves. So
you don't have to listen to anything. You don't have
to agree with me. I'm just offering up that the

(11:01):
world is offering me opportunities to approach things a little
bit differently, and I think sometimes, as much as our
instincts tell us otherwise, it's worth taking a pause and
thinking about doing that.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
What do you think, Mesh, I think.

Speaker 3 (11:12):
That's a damn That's a damn mic drop right there.
I You know, I struggle with this personally, right because
I am a person who I consider to have a
very strong moral compass. I feel grateful to you to
have been raised by two parents who both had very
strong moral compasses, who educated me about the world around
me and the people around me from a very young age.

(11:34):
And that doesn't mean I know everything about everything. You
say it all the time. I'm a baby in this
in this life game, you know.

Speaker 2 (11:41):
What I mean. There's there's still so much to learn
and acknowledging it.

Speaker 3 (11:44):
You know, I'll acknowledge it sometimes, I like not it sometimes.
But what I found is that even even for myself,
I didn't want to get social media for this exact reason.
I got social media my junior year of high school,
and I'd already seen the way it had changed the
way my friends and the people around me thought about things,
took things in. And the issue for me is, like
you're saying, snapping to judgments about things is so convenient,

(12:08):
and even from you know, what was that twenty thirteen,
twenty fourteen to now, we've only been bombarded with more
and more and more stuff. So there's always so much
the process, and it's easy, it's lazy, and it's convenient
to make snap judgments. So you know, you see a buzzword,
you see a person, you see a platform and a post,
and you assume immediately you know all the relevant facts

(12:29):
and you can decide what side of a line that
you're on it. It's just it's easy to do, and
I feel like it's something we all have to take
responsibility for. Is checking that stuff you know at the door,
knowing when okay, maybe I don't actually know everything about this,
maybe I should be giving this person a little bit
more grace, because at the end of the day, don't
we all also want a little bit of grace. Don't
we all also have nuance in different contexts and different

(12:51):
things happening behind the scenes that everybody doesn't see. So
it's it's not to say also that some of these
snap judgments aren't correct, because.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
Sometimes they absolutely are right.

Speaker 3 (13:01):
You know, if you're like me, if you're also Leo,
Sarah's a Leo. Period, sometimes we're right. A lot of
the time, we could be right right, but that doesn't
mean we can't leave space for ourselves to be wrong.
And that's how we make sure that we never align
with anybody ever. Is when we're never wrong, we can
never be questioned, we can never question ourselves. So it's
just it's a tough thing to do in the world
that we live. In today, but it's so necessary, and

(13:21):
at the end of the day, was so much shit
happening in the world at large. We need more people
who are willing to connect than are willing to cancel.

Speaker 2 (13:32):
And now that's a dropped money.

Speaker 3 (13:35):
I'll just leave it there because I don't want to
mess it up.

Speaker 4 (13:40):
What do you think, Alex oh Man, Well, I want
to just add one tweet of Simons in which, to me,
is the one that she was actually apologizing for. When
she initially responded to Riley, she wrote, believe someone your
own size, which would ironically be a male, and I
think that's what she is referring to when she is
referring to getting personal with Riley. But I totally agree

(14:01):
with you about the lack of nuance in these spaces.
And I don't expect somebody like Simone Biles to have
all of the answers right. She, as a professional athlete,
has her own career to worry about. But I appreciate
that she is coming at this from an opinion of
inclusion and respect in lifting up children, and the fact

(14:25):
that we have gotten so far away from that in
this current conversation is extremely frustrating. And I'll also add
that I think sometimes the community that is advocating on
behalf of trans inclusion in sports, they are up against
such a hard fight, an existential fight against human rights

(14:46):
for the lives and safety of their community, that sometimes
what happens is there is a lack of acknowledgment of
what the general population is aware of when it comes
to sports. So the example all often set is the
fact that last year, when you look at the women's
one hundred meter AE, thousand men ran faster than the

(15:09):
current women's world record. Now, those are cisgender men competing
at all different levels, and cisgender men and trans women
not the same thing by any means. So I don't
want to make it sound like I'm equating those two things.
But when you ask a random person on the street, hey,
is it fair for a trans woman to compete against

(15:29):
a cisgender woman, it is unsurprising to me that their
answer would be no if they don't have any further
education or information on that topic. And so I want
to respect that that is a place that a lot
of people are coming from, and that in some ways
it's backed up by their experiences of watching high school
track meets, of watching their daughters and sons compete in sports,

(15:54):
but that experience doesn't negate the experience and lives of
brands kids that just want to participate. And I think
too often it feels like there is this importance that
is being placed on youth sports in a way that
does not matter down the line. What matters in youth
sports down the line is inclusion and acceptance. It does

(16:16):
not matter what time you placed. And if a team
has a quote unquote unfair advantage, well, let me tell
you there's so many unfair advantages in life. And you're
going to be better off for accepting people because of
who they are than rejecting them because they have an
advantage over you potentially.

Speaker 3 (16:33):
And I feel like you you make a great general
point also about like because you as an individual, or
me as an individual, or any of us as individuals
have educated ourselves about certain things, that doesn't mean everybody
has that same level of understanding. I feel like that's
such an easy trap to fall into on social media
because you just think, you know, you've got your followers

(16:55):
on your feed, and you're and the people that you
care about who can be of more like mind to
you than other people just random folks on the internet
that you don't know, and it's very easy to assume
that everybody understands things at a certain level. And I
think that just goes back to the point it's better
to call people in. It's better to say, hey, let's
have a dialogue about this, because then you got an

(17:15):
opportunity to reach more people and help them understand. And
then next time they see something on their feed or
we have this conversation about Simona and Riley, they're not
as quick to say, oh, let me jump down her throat,
right yeah.

Speaker 4 (17:27):
I think what scares me the most in this current
moment is the fact of how it speaks to just
larger misinformation. You know, following the executive order barring trans
girls and women from sport, there was a poll about
how sixty seven percent of Democrats Democrats believe that trans
women should not compete in women's sports, and that to
me is a sign of how flawed this current moment

(17:50):
is in terms of people having information that informs their beliefs.
People have beliefs that aren't informed by.

Speaker 1 (17:55):
Fact, and that's why saying that there's nuance and let's
talk about it is the best way to get those
people to understand policy at different levels. Inclusion at every
level of youth is the answer. EO's barring everything from
pre k on our bullshit, mandatory hormone testing when there
isn't proof of T levels contributing at the elite, like

(18:17):
all this stuff. That's why I said nuance, and that's
why Simone said it's complicated, and let's try to prioritize
inclusivity and fairness. There's a great story people want to
read it in the Washington Post and opinion piece by
Philip Bump talking about how much parents are putting money
into youth sports and that one in nine parents believe
that their child will be a professional athlete, and how

(18:39):
that's intersecting with their worries about fairness and trans inclusion,
and to Alex's point, how unfair the playing field already
is based on the amount of wealth that you have
and ability for your children to even participate at all,
the likelihood of them making it to collegeen playing as
a results of that wealth, on and on and on.

Speaker 2 (18:59):
There is so much nuanced to this topic.

Speaker 1 (19:01):
There are so many ways to call people in to
talk about it that don't involve immediately canceling them and
I think that that applies to a million things going
on right now that aren't just this conversation about Sione
Biles or Ashlett Harris or anything else. For instance, we
just got a report today that Serena Williams and Venus

(19:21):
Williams are launching a new video podcast, Amazing, Awesome.

Speaker 2 (19:23):
Can't wait to watch it.

Speaker 1 (19:24):
Where will it be on X owned by Elon Musk,
which we're all working hard to move away from. Yea,
we will reserve our judgment on that, as we will
reserve our judgment on many other things until we have
more facts, we get our questions answered, and if in
the end we still decide, hey, that sucks, we're allowed to.
But let's take those beats and have those conversations first.

(19:47):
Per usual, we went way over the time we allotted
for ourselves, so we're definitely going to need to change
the name of this segment. All right, We got to
take a quick break. When we come back, it's anti
coostable stick around.

Speaker 2 (20:03):
Joining us now.

Speaker 1 (20:04):
She's a women's sports reporter for Front Office Sports, formerly
of the Chicago Sun Times and the Greatest City in
the World.

Speaker 2 (20:09):
She's on to make her smelly er pastures.

Speaker 1 (20:11):
In NYC and Iowa grad Queen of the Thrift Fit
and hot off of Kendrick Lamar WNBA doubleheader.

Speaker 2 (20:17):
It's Annie Costable. Hi Annie, what an intro.

Speaker 5 (20:22):
I I'm always anxiously awaiting your intros and they just
get better and better each time a person comes on.

Speaker 6 (20:30):
So thank you for that.

Speaker 1 (20:31):
Yes, you're in the two timers club. You have been
here before. Welcome back, but with a new gig this time.
So tell us how it's going so far with Front
Office Sports.

Speaker 6 (20:39):
Do we want the realty or like the real positivity?

Speaker 2 (20:43):
No? No, no, we want honesty, not fake positivity.

Speaker 6 (20:46):
Yeah. No, genuinely positive things to say.

Speaker 5 (20:49):
But I always try to be real in that, Like
anytime you make a significant change, it's not seamless.

Speaker 6 (20:56):
It never is.

Speaker 5 (20:57):
And I think when you start something new, your hope
is that you know you're going to come in and
and feel just as confident as you did in your
old job. But the fact is I was at the
Sun Times for seven years. That was seven years of
source building and building you know, a following and becoming
an expert on all things Chicago, sky and so here

(21:18):
at Front Office Sports. The challenge I'm really excited about
is starting from scratch, not in the sense of you know,
my WNBA source building, but just as far as all
other women's sports goes. You know, it's it's an opportunity
to approach my coverage. It's in terms of women's sports
the same way I approached everything I did covering the

(21:40):
Chicago Sky and that's what I'm really excited about.

Speaker 6 (21:42):
But again, like that's not easy.

Speaker 5 (21:44):
You got to start from from zero and build back
up to one hundred. So as far as my competitive
side goes, and I think, you know, like I'm very competitive,
that's the biggest challenge is knowing it's going to come
with some learning curves and getting beat here and there.
I take getting beat on stories. So yeah, that's that's

(22:06):
been the challenge. But I mean, New York, why wasn't
I here before? I feel like I've like landed exactly
where I'm supposed to be.

Speaker 1 (22:16):
Yeah, and what about New York City. It's very exciting.
There's a lot going on. And for those who don't
live in a big city, they probably think Chicago and
New York are quite similar, but there's a lot of differences.
How's it been getting used to living in a new place.

Speaker 5 (22:29):
Yeah, So being back this weekend in Chicago actually was
like a mental test for me. I obviously was there
for work, but I was like, Okay, this is going
to be a good experiment to see if mentally I
still feel confident about.

Speaker 6 (22:43):
The decision I made, or I'm happy in New York, YadA, YadA.

Speaker 5 (22:47):
And so yeah, when I was back in Chicago, I've
only I mean, I've been in New York three months,
and my immediate kind of sense was, wow, this feels
already so different here. And the difference was Chicago is
it's just you can find your pockets of calm and
quiet and peace.

Speaker 6 (23:05):
You know.

Speaker 5 (23:06):
Even getting out the house at like seven eight am,
I was walking, you know, back my same path to
get my coffee in the morning, I'm like, oh my god.

Speaker 6 (23:14):
There's no where are all the people.

Speaker 5 (23:16):
You know, the second you step out of your house
in New York, it's just it's chaos. It's like from
the second you get on the train, it's chaos. And again,
at first, I was like, Okay, this feels right. I
feel at home here, but I won't truly know how
at home I feel in New York until.

Speaker 6 (23:32):
I go back to Chicago.

Speaker 5 (23:34):
And by the end of my trip in Chicago was like, man,
get me back to New York.

Speaker 1 (23:39):
Wow, okay, good, I'm happy for you. We'll see how
the wong at lasts. I mean, I think Chicago is
obviously superior. So eventually you want to come back, but
for now, have your fun. It's a good, good young
person fun. Let's talk sports because now, as you said,
your beat is a little bit bigger and that's very cool,
and I like to have your perspective on so many
different places and cities and markets. And before we even

(24:02):
get to your main beat, which is basketball, let's talk
softball a little bit because you've written some stuff about
the Women's College World Series, in particular Nigrie Kennedy. So
tell us what you think it means both for Texas
Tech to have her coming back and also what it
means for a softball player to be making that kind
of nil money as this AUSL Professional League is launching,

(24:23):
And will there be any friction for those players in
college ball getting to the pros.

Speaker 2 (24:28):
Is it going to be like the old days.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
Of playing for a really high profile program in college
basketball and going to the WNBN being like, oh weird,
we have like worse locker rooms in travel than I
used to have.

Speaker 5 (24:41):
Yeah, So I'm so happy we're talking about this because
let me start with Nija coming back to Texas Tech. Obviously,
I think what she did this year, them signing her
and them signing her to that seven figure deal shows
exactly how impactful she is on that program. And one
year she led them to the Women's College World Series,
and so obviously Texas gets it done this year, but

(25:03):
her return, I mean, in a lot of people's minds,
puts them right back in the Women's College World Series,
competing for a final. And that's why again they re
upped on that seven figure deal. Now, as far as
it goes in consideration to how that type of salary
is going to impact the professional level, you're exactly right

(25:23):
in terms of comparing it to the WNBA and some
of the differences that players saw and honestly continue.

Speaker 6 (25:30):
To see even in recent years.

Speaker 5 (25:32):
I mean, Angel Reeves going from LSU to the Chicago Sky,
big difference in terms of experience and where they're training, YadA, YadA.

Speaker 6 (25:40):
But when it comes to.

Speaker 5 (25:42):
Softball, there's still a huge gap in that salary. And
I mean, when we're talking about a million dollars. The
average salary for AUSL is forty thousand, So that's a
significant difference. And so when you think about a player
like Nija, she's not only going to have options to
play here in the States, but she's going to have

(26:04):
options to play overseas too, and we know that in
Japan that's where players are making the most lucrative salaries.
And so something I've been asking different sources and different
context is, Okay, could we see a similar situation as
we saw to Diana Tarassi where she was paid to
sit out and solely play overseas? You know, and I've

(26:25):
talked to multiple sources who are like, that is not
a far stretch of the imagination because the resources that
teams have in Japan significantly outweighed the resources that we've
known women's softball to have here in the States. And
obviously AOSL is changing things, especially with this investment from

(26:45):
Major League Baseball. But when you anticipate a player like
Nija coming in, you still have a couple of years.
How is AUSL how is the professional softball space in
America preparing for that?

Speaker 6 (26:59):
Because she's already making a million.

Speaker 1 (27:00):
Right and she's obviously an anomaly because she's making way
more than other softball players on the NL front, but
still worth noting that there are these players that eventually
are game changers and leagues have to adjust in order
to compete to keep them, and she's going to be
one of them. So it'll be interesting to see how
AUSL builds from this current four team barnstorming league, which

(27:24):
is a great way to start, and then uses that
investment from MLB to really expand and blow up. All right,
let's talk WNBA. There's so much to get to. We
always want to talk more WNB in the show, but
we're like a multi sport show, so it feels like
there's always stories that fall between the cracks, so you're
here to help pick them up. I want to start
with the team in your new hometown, the Liberty. I mean,

(27:46):
I guess this can be expected, but it's not always
a given that a team comes right back after a
championship with the same heart and integrity and passion and
desire and hustle.

Speaker 2 (27:56):
But they are killing it. What are you seeing from
the Liberty?

Speaker 6 (28:00):
I mean, the addition of Natasha Cloud.

Speaker 5 (28:02):
I don't want to say I was a skeptic.

Speaker 6 (28:06):
Sorry, Tasha, but.

Speaker 5 (28:08):
I just wasn't sure or wasn't clear on exactly what
her impact would be, how she would shift this team.

Speaker 6 (28:15):
And my god, I mean her energy.

Speaker 5 (28:18):
You you always hear teams coming off a championship talking
about how they can't stay the same, they can't stay complacent,
And I mean we've seen it cover in our coverage
of former championship teams a lot of times.

Speaker 6 (28:32):
That's what what does the team in is?

Speaker 5 (28:35):
You know, they bring their their main coreback and not
something really changes, right, Tasha is mentally a different player
than anybody else on her team as far as just
the energy she brings and how she invigorates all of
the players around her.

Speaker 6 (28:54):
Her.

Speaker 5 (28:54):
The staff has talked about that, her teammates have talked
about that, so so one, I mean, that's the most
significant change. And then John Quell Jones, I mean she
is like it's I don't even know how to put
this other than to just say it plainly, like her
absence continues to show how impactful she is.

Speaker 6 (29:17):
And it's crazy because she's this dominant player.

Speaker 5 (29:21):
It's not like you miss her on the court, but
the second she's unavailable, you're like, holy, I'm sorry, Holy shit,
but she is. She's everything to this team. So I
feel like Tasha has again invigorated this team in their
pursuit of a back to back title, and everybody else
has just gotten better.

Speaker 2 (29:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:41):
Yeah, we're missing Junkquell on my fantasy team too. Skyler's
is really missing John Quell Jones.

Speaker 5 (29:50):
Wait when I saw your team name, I was like
what I had, No, I don't know.

Speaker 1 (30:00):
In reference to Okay, I'm gonna send it to you,
She's literally doesn't realize that the person she's talking to
is micd up or that there's a hot mic near
her and they're talking about years of the league and
being old, and the girl's like, you're not old, and
she like old pussy.

Speaker 6 (30:15):
Oh my god.

Speaker 5 (30:17):
Literally, when you posted this, I'm like, what.

Speaker 2 (30:22):
Yeah, we like to push the envelope a little bit. Annie,
you know.

Speaker 6 (30:25):
That, and you know I do as well. Let's just
keep pushing that da.

Speaker 2 (30:29):
Right, that's right.

Speaker 1 (30:31):
We actually suffered from a couple of hot flashes in
the first two challenges of the Fantasy League, but now
our old pussy is winning, so glad to report that.
Let's talk about the other team that's winning all of
their games. Minnesota Links nine to zero and if he's
to call, you're my preseason pick for MVP.

Speaker 2 (30:47):
She looks to be on a mission. What are you
seeing from them?

Speaker 5 (30:51):
Yeah, I agree with you on the mission statement. I
also picked snafisas my preseason MVP pick, And I think, again,
when you lose a title, it spurs something in you.
But when you lose a title the way they did,
I mean, they're coming back for a vengeance. And especially
when you think about who Cheryl Reeve is in this league,

(31:14):
what her franchise has experienced in the past.

Speaker 6 (31:18):
I mean not to bring up too much of like the.

Speaker 5 (31:20):
WNBA's history and the tea and whatever, but like, let's
talk about it. I mean the Minnesota Links and the
LA Sparks in twenty sixteen, that was another controversial ending
to a WNBA finals, And there's a lot of people
who feel like even in that moment, that was the
Minnesota Links Finals to win, and you know, an officiating

(31:41):
call changed changed everything. And so I think when you
consider again the history of the league and specifically the
history of the Links, it's very exciting to put into
the forefront of your mind the possibility that the Links
and the Lever could meet again and this finals.

Speaker 6 (32:00):
And it also makes sense why.

Speaker 5 (32:02):
This team is competing the way that they are with
Cheryl Reeve at the home because again, she's been through it.
This has been something new. What I'll also say about
the Minnesota links In and the Liberty specifically, is when
you consider the issues with the WNBA scheduling, it's astounding
that these two teams will not meet until July.

Speaker 6 (32:24):
Like, where who did that? Let's can we talk to them?

Speaker 2 (32:29):
Like, yeah, well.

Speaker 1 (32:31):
I want to criticize them, and I also have questions
about how many of the venues they're playing in have
other tenants that take precedents Like I feel like you
can blame the schedule maker or you can first ask
to get a peek behind the scenes and figure out
what they were dealing with when they were trying to
make set schedule.

Speaker 6 (32:48):
Yeah, you know what, that's fair. You know what?

Speaker 5 (32:50):
Listen to you being like middle ground considering all angles,
I'm just raging out over You're like.

Speaker 1 (32:57):
But I agree because we all want to see them play.

Speaker 5 (32:59):
Yeah, truly, And then it's like, Okay, I mean it's
long shot, but will they both be undefeated?

Speaker 6 (33:06):
That'd be crazy, can you? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (33:09):
Unheard of let's talk about some other teams.

Speaker 1 (33:11):
Who's the most surprising team to you in a good
way so far this season?

Speaker 6 (33:16):
I think the Valkyriees.

Speaker 5 (33:18):
I know, I know their record doesn't necessarily show oh
surprising in a good way, but again, I think the
way that they've competed, it's it shows how good of
a coach one Natalie is that the culture that they're
building really is taking hold and that they as they

(33:42):
kind of spoke about wanting to be, they truly can
be a competitive franchise and in a very short order
exactly so. I think again their record isn't exactly what
you'd maybe associate with, you know, exciting top tier team,
but again, as far as what they were up against

(34:03):
and even the roster that they built through expansion, I
don't know that many people thought they'd be competing in
the way that they're competing this early on. And another
factor that you got to consider they have a number
of players that are going to compete in euro Basket. Ye,
so how they respond to that too is going to
be another test of the culture that they're building there.

Speaker 1 (34:26):
And I want to take this opportunity to shout out
my previously named but unnamed least favorite player in the
league who has been playing quite well of late. And
I'm not gonna apologize because my take on you after
one game was an accurate take. But I will say
props to you for looking more comfortable, getting your head
about you on the court, and having some fine games.

(34:48):
And you will remain nameless because this is a kind
and friendly show where you don't call out people for struggling.

Speaker 6 (34:54):
Oh my god, will you tell me off the error?

Speaker 2 (34:56):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (34:57):
And if you listen to this episode, you might have
even sort of figured it out the way that I
just said that, But maybe not because I'm snaky. Okay,
what's the most surprising team in a bad way?

Speaker 6 (35:07):
Oh God, people are gonna hate me for this.

Speaker 2 (35:10):
It's the Chicago Sky Duh. What the I mean is
going on? Annie girl?

Speaker 5 (35:16):
I wish The only reason I wish I was still
in Chicago was so that I could I knew, I
could know in and out what's going on, because obviously
you can observe from afar. But but one thing I
really took pride in is when I wrote something, I
really knew it or I really had multiple sources on it.

(35:36):
You know, I was I was not out here spewing lies.
Although people might want to think so that's okay. You
guys are titled to your opinion. So with this team,
I mean one Tyler Marsh. I when when the Sky
hired him, and I still believe this. They I wrote,
they hired the right guy. And I think you don't

(36:00):
have his track record, his championship track record, and you
don't come from the tree that he comes from. And
if you're not an adequate coach, right, you don't fake that,
you don't get You just accidentally end up in the
situations that Tyler Marsh has ended up in. So I
still believe that Tyler Marsh is the right guy for

(36:21):
the Chicago Sky. But obviously this team when it was constructed,
when Jeff made the moves he made, and he brought
the players and he brought in something apparent was that
they don't have a certified bucket getter. You know, they
don't have an MVP candidate. And I know, right, I

(36:43):
know those players don't even grow on trees. I'm not
saying every team even has, you know, an MVP candidate player,
but they don't.

Speaker 6 (36:50):
Have a certified star.

Speaker 5 (36:52):
They have a lot of players who who contribute to
two teams winning, but none that you can rely on
to get it done. And then when you think about
the fact that, Okay, if anybody was the creator, it
was Courtney Vandersloute and now she's down with a season
ending injury, tearing her ACL against the Indiana Fever.

Speaker 6 (37:15):
It really shows how.

Speaker 5 (37:19):
The Chicago sky were a house of cards and are
a house of cards, and now you just pulled out,
in my opinion, the card that was going to hold
it all together.

Speaker 6 (37:31):
So I think they just it was a question mark
from the beginning.

Speaker 5 (37:37):
I did think the addition of Ariel Atkins was going
to make a difference back Alan, we haven't seen that yet.
But now you pull out Courtney vanderslut and now the
question becomes will we ever see it?

Speaker 1 (37:47):
You know, who's facilitating, who's setting up the bigs that
can't create their own shots. Where's the inside out game
that's required if you want to have two bigs like
that that aren't really Yes, Reese can hit a couple
threes everyone while, but she's mostly in the paint.

Speaker 2 (38:01):
Camille is going to be in the paint.

Speaker 1 (38:02):
You need a three point threat otherwise they're just dropping
everyone inside and keeping you from getting it inside to
your bigs. It just the formation of the team was
tenuous already, but it required that some of their swings
on three point shooters came out shooting, especially after losing
Maybury last year.

Speaker 6 (38:19):
Right, it's been and.

Speaker 1 (38:21):
Listen, I want to give Tyler Marsh enough time, but
literally my trainer this morning, who doesn't even watch a
lot of WNBA, was like, how long is the leisha
on the sky?

Speaker 2 (38:29):
Coach?

Speaker 1 (38:29):
This is brutal And I'm watching the games and that's
what's standing out to me. It's not that they're losing.
They are fundamentally offensive right now. They are not doing
technical things right. They're they're not calling timeouts in the
moments that they should. Reese is regressing in terms of
bringing the ball down off of boards before going back up, Like,
there's all these moments that feel coachable, and I'm wondering,

(38:51):
fundamentally what happened to a bunch of these players.

Speaker 5 (38:55):
Yeah, So another observation I have and I don't disagree
with you there. But in addition to that, which that
was a whole lot, there's an energy issue. Like this
team yesterday against the New York Liberty and again Corney
Vanderslit's out, So that's that's a heavy burden to bear.
But this team does not even look like it's playing

(39:18):
at its full, you know, one hundred percent.

Speaker 6 (39:22):
And when you're a team that.

Speaker 5 (39:25):
Can't be saved by one single player, what are you
holding back for? You know, like this is at a
certain point, it's got to be a little bit about pride.
You guys are getting blown out repeatedly. Where's where's the pride?
And so I think in addition to that, even there's
an identity issue because how are they playing?

Speaker 6 (39:44):
What what's their style?

Speaker 5 (39:45):
What are they leaning on when you know they need
to get a bucket and none of that's been defined,
none of that's been defined. And then you throw on
Courtney's injury. It's like this is really a big question mark.
But as far as the leash goes, I will say
in my time covering the Sky that ownership group does
not fire people easily. Okay except for Teaspoon, But again

(40:09):
I say that to say that speaks to the dysfunction
that went on there last year.

Speaker 6 (40:12):
They do not. They do not fire people likely they
do not, yea.

Speaker 2 (40:16):
And we talked about this.

Speaker 1 (40:17):
Everyone was angry on behalf of Tea Spoon, and rightfully
so in the sense of her legacy and maybe what
she could do as a coach, But what was going
on behind the scenes reportedly was not going to be
a fixed with leadership the way it was in the
players that were remaining.

Speaker 5 (40:33):
No, and what I'll add to that is, and this
is something I've said in the months since, is Teresa
Weatherspoon as a player and Teresa Weatherspoon as a coach,
two separate people, A great human being, No one's No.
I certainly wouldn't say otherwise. I don't know her well
enough on a personal level to comment on good bad.
You know that's not my job. But player coach, two

(40:56):
separate people. Player, hall of famer, incredible, No one will
ever take away from her legacy coach. She still has
a long way to go to be a coach in
the WNBA, Like, that's not an easy job. And just
because you're a Hall of Fame coach or player does
not equate to a Hall of Fame coaching career.

Speaker 6 (41:15):
And that is okay to say.

Speaker 1 (41:17):
Yeah, I was talking to a GM in the league
about that, and I think there's been a lot of
talk the last couple of years about a couple players.
There was least a Leslie kind of openly talking about
how she didn't get a job, and then people were
frustrated about Tea Spoon, and the GM just said to
me as we were talking about that, there are former
players that make great coaches, and there are teams that
need someone who is already a veteran coach who knows

(41:39):
how to manage personalities as much as they know how
to write up ecss and o's. And I think sometimes
that's hard to take if there's a player that you
really liked as a player, but maybe is it ready yet?
All right, let's talk about a couple other Let's talk
specific individual players.

Speaker 2 (41:51):
Anyone that hasn't started off as strong as expected for you?

Speaker 5 (41:55):
Yeah, I think Juel Lloyd in Las Vegas, and obviously
you know her career is it speaks for itself already
at this point. But I think when you consider, you know,
the intention behind this move and the standards for the aces,
you know they Jewell obviously wanted out of Seattle. She's

(42:18):
made that perfectly clear. If it wasn't already before you know,
the season began. But on top of wanting out, you know,
the Aces were set on upholding this championship standard, and
bringing her in was about upholding that championship standard. And
I'm not, by any means saying that that where they're
at is on Jewel. I think Becky Hammond just spoke

(42:39):
about how this team has, you know, a character issue
in terms of not having that that grit and that
determined dog right exactly, that dog is missing and that
will is missing. And I think in order for the
Aces to be a content, to remain a contender, they need.

Speaker 6 (43:01):
Jewel Lloyd to be the Jewel Lloyd.

Speaker 5 (43:05):
You know that we've seen the Jewellloyd that's leading the
league in points per game or at least among the
top five. You know, they need that Jewel Lloyd to
contribute to put that team, you know, where I think
they have been and where they expect to be.

Speaker 1 (43:21):
What about a player that's taken the biggest leap, Maybe
someone that you're like, okay, all right, look at this start.

Speaker 6 (43:28):
That's a good question.

Speaker 5 (43:31):
Honestly, I feel like this might be biased because I
cover this team or I'm around this team as much
as I am, But truly, it's going to be Natasha Cloud.
And I don't even think because of her points per game.
I mean, obviously you know she's I think she's averaging
under ten right now, but that's not it. It's her impact

(43:53):
that I've seen every single day on the New York Liberty.
And again, when you consider a teams for to repeat
as champions.

Speaker 6 (44:04):
That can't be overstated.

Speaker 5 (44:05):
So they don't even need her output to be crazy, like,
they don't need her to put up, you know, fifteen
points a game. So so that output, I mean, she's
where she should be. And so yeah, I think Natasha
Clouds fit with the New York Liberty and her impact
on the Liberty so far is what's impressed me most.

Speaker 1 (44:23):
Yeah, I totally agree, especially because we often say about
teams there's only one ball, and on that team there
are so many people who could be trying to buy
for it and try to be the star, and it
said they're all working so well together. I also think
Kiki erie Fen and Sonya Citron because for all the
talk that we have that is very true about how
hard it is to make this lead to even be
on a roster, for them to be playing the way

(44:46):
they are has been a revelation.

Speaker 5 (44:50):
Completely agree, completely agree, because aside from the Golden State
Valkyries the Washington Mystics. We're going to be another team
that has surprised me early on, and it's because of
the contributions from both of them, especially.

Speaker 6 (45:02):
Kiky eria Fan. I think her physicality.

Speaker 5 (45:06):
Again, when you think about rookies and the adjustment and
you're seeing her out here exude her dominance against some
of the most dominant players in the WNBA, It's really
got me excited to see where her career goes from here,
because my god, I mean, I think she's she could
be in the conversation for Rookie of the Year.

Speaker 2 (45:27):
Both of them. It's pretty impressive.

Speaker 1 (45:29):
We have to take a quick break more with Annie
Costable right after this. Is there a team more player
you think that is not being talked about enough. I
think we all came in with such excitement enthusiasm for
the Pagebeckers wings story, and the concussion and the illness
has sort of slowed down us getting a chance to

(45:51):
really watch how that might change anything else that you're like, Oh,
why is it? Why aren't people focused on this or
talking about this?

Speaker 6 (45:57):
Oh my god.

Speaker 5 (45:57):
I could go through like a whole list, but one
thing I really wish people were talking about more is
Kelsey Plum and what exactly prompted this trade request, why
it was time for her to get out of Las Vegas.

Speaker 6 (46:13):
And I'll tell you why.

Speaker 5 (46:15):
I'm not.

Speaker 6 (46:16):
I'm not like trying to stir the pot.

Speaker 5 (46:19):
I'm not trying to bring up drama or you know,
I don't know, encourage some tabloidy reporting.

Speaker 6 (46:26):
What I'm saying interests me.

Speaker 5 (46:28):
Is if you compare the situation to an NBA franchise, right,
and you see a championship team start to kind of deteriorate,
the why always gets talked about. It gets talked about
so much that you're like, can we stop talking about this?

Speaker 6 (46:45):
Right?

Speaker 5 (46:45):
And so with Kelsey, I think something that was on
the outside looked so obvious was how strong of a
connection the Aces that Aces team had and then all
of a sudden it was gone. And I think that's
something we.

Speaker 6 (47:05):
Should be talking about. Why.

Speaker 5 (47:06):
And then when you consider how well she's doing in
LA I mean, I just I want to know why.

Speaker 2 (47:13):
Okay, last question for you.

Speaker 1 (47:15):
I think I've been having these conversations a lot of
late with either guests or folks who are interviewing me
for pieces they're writing it feels like some WNBA teams
still seem to operate from a defensive place, and I
don't know if that's an attempt at good business, smart
business considering last year's mess. I don't know if they
think they're protecting their players. But sometimes it feels like,

(47:36):
whether it's intentional or perhaps it's the result of a
lack of bandwidth or resources or whatever, that some WNBA
teams make it hard for folks to cover them. They
make it hard for people to ask sophisticated, sometimes critical
questions and to give sophisticated, sometimes critical coverage. How do
we get teams to welcome that and understand the necessity

(47:59):
of that if the w and Women's Sports wants to
take its place among the biggest and most profitable men's
professional leagues.

Speaker 5 (48:06):
Yeah, I really appreciate this question because it's something that
pisses me off to no end, not even just from
the teams, but from the league as a whole. There's
a transparency issue. And when I say transparency issue, I
mean the simplest thing as far as you know, a
coach getting fined, to you know, details about an investigation.

(48:29):
It's there's so much that you have to jump through
a million hoops to get the correct information out, and
it leads to, you know, errors in reporting, which is
understandable again because there's like a transparency, but also it
just it. I think it conflates the feelings of attack

(48:52):
versus understanding, Oh, these people are.

Speaker 6 (48:56):
Doing their job.

Speaker 5 (48:57):
And so I think the way that it changes from
a team standpoint, from a franchise standpoint is when certain franchises.

Speaker 6 (49:07):
Force the others to rise.

Speaker 5 (49:09):
And I say that having experienced obviously working with multiple
franchises PR staffs, and the difference from some versus the
others is astounding, not only in the way that they
receive critical coverage or or even allow their players to
receive critical coverage, or their coaches.

Speaker 6 (49:31):
Because here's the thing.

Speaker 5 (49:33):
If I ask a question that Sandy Brondelo does not like,
she is well within her right to look me in
the face and say I don't like that question. You know,
no comment, I have nothing to say. But if a
PR person is stepping in and answering for her, it
immediately becomes an issue of what are you hiding?

Speaker 1 (49:50):
Yeah, it's very pale Belichick, Jordan, how did you meet?
We're not going to talk about that. I thought you
said it was on a plane. Now we're all very.

Speaker 5 (49:57):
Curious exactly exactly, and so so I think that's what
certain franchises have to get a little bit more comfortable with,
is let the player express themselves, let the coach express themselves,
and let these adults in these situations, you know, handle
each other professionally. And I think some of these franchises

(50:17):
will be surprised that the world will not end when
you do that.

Speaker 2 (50:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (50:22):
We talked to Elizabeth Williams on this show, and one
of the things I said is I think that there
are a number, probably the majority of WNBA athletes that
are willing to take tough questions and are smart and
thoughtful and interested in answering them. And then there are
some that I think have gotten used to sycophantic coverage
and soft coverage and push back against legitimate reporting that

(50:45):
elevates the sport because they just it because it sucks
and it's hard, and you're competitive and you're pissed that
you lost or you had a bad game. But asking
someone about a bad game if they were zero for
twenty is how sports works. And I just don't think
women's sports will be the space that they desire all
the benefits of if they can't also face that part

(51:06):
of it.

Speaker 5 (51:09):
I completely agree with you, And just to add to this,
I think it starts at the college level. I mean,
you've got to consider some of these college coaches and
how they're educating their players on media access and how
to handle the media. And I'm not saying that this
is easy by any means, Like I am not trying
to take away from the fact that these players these

(51:29):
coaches are showing up on good and bad days and
being asked to talk about it. I know on my
worst day, I would not handle it well. If someone's like, hey, Annie,
why did you do X, Y and Z instead of
X Y and Z?

Speaker 6 (51:43):
I would have an attitude.

Speaker 5 (51:45):
And that's why I'm fully supportive of players and coaches
expressing themselves however they see fit.

Speaker 6 (51:50):
But you can't protect.

Speaker 5 (51:52):
Them from this space in which they entered and are
also fully equipped to handle a professional athletes. It does
them no good to handhold and baby in my opinion,
and so I agree with you. In order for women's
sports to elevate, to continue to grow, it requires the

(52:13):
critical coverage, It requires transparency, It requires proper media attention,
and so I think again, and it requires teams holding
others accountable. If certain franchises elevate to a certain level,
it's going to forces to rise to be done.

Speaker 1 (52:30):
Yeah, and I do want to add the caveat that
it's a symbiotic relationship between reporters and athletes. You need
to be prepared, educated, ask good questions, ask smart questions,
understand the nuance, understand the intersectionality of women's sports, so
that when you show up and you do ask tough,
critical questions, they know that they're being asked in good faith. That,
of course, is why some athletes already are in a

(52:52):
position to maybe feel defensive, because it hasn't always been
a space where people were sending their best and the
reporters were doing their best. So I get hey, and
that's worth commenting on for sure, But also, nothing is
fixed and the future doesn't look any better if everybody
enters with the assumption that the other one is operating
in bad faith. There needs to be an agreement to
move forward where both media and athletes and teams and

(53:14):
leagues are all in pursuit of more sophisticated coverage, because
that's what the league deserves.

Speaker 6 (53:19):
That's what these players deserve exactly. I fully support that statement.

Speaker 1 (53:25):
I'm Sarah Spain and I paid for this message. Spain
twenty twenty eighth. Annie, we always love to have you.
Thanks so much for coming on. I'm sorry that you
missed Chicago so much that you have to lie about
how much you like New York, but I accept it.

Speaker 6 (53:40):
Listen, maybe one day I'll be back. Maybe maybe.

Speaker 1 (53:45):
Thanks to Annie for taking the time and trying to
spill the tea, we have to take another break when
we come back.

Speaker 2 (53:50):
The teams that make y'all proud of Pride stick.

Speaker 1 (53:53):
Around welcome backslices. We love that you're listening, but we
want you to get in the game every day too.
So here's our good game play of the day. Let
us know what Pride activations you've seen and loved so far.
Were you part of Angel City's Pink Pony Club TFO?

(54:13):
Are you obsessed with the Pride t shirts? Retired goalkeeper
Nicole Barnhardt designed something else. Let us know you know,
we love to hear from you, and we want to
share some of the teams that are doing it right,
some of the athletes that are doing it best. You
could also let us know if you think your team
missed the mark. Looking at you, Boston Legacy. Ah, we
were so excited about the logo finally being released and
something to celebrate, but I don't know if you all

(54:35):
saw this. The club initially announced some Pride merch, saying
that money from sales would be quote donated to a
local LGBTQ plus nonprofit that's committed to social justice and creating,
sustaining and advocating for programs, policies, and services that support
the LGBT community. End quote sounds great? Which one is
what many people asked, but the team didn't say which

(54:56):
nonprofit was getting those funds, and it appears that the
team is now leaded the post. The pride gear is
still available on the Boston Legacy store. The nonprofit name
is still Mia. Feels like we're at a Blue Family
gala over here or about to donate to the Human
Fund if you know, you know, either way, the merch
is cool. We love the idea of Boston Legacy. Just

(55:19):
let us know who you're supporting. Hit us up on email,
y'all good game at wondermedianetwork dot com, or leave us
a voicemail at eight seven two, two, four, fifty, seventy
and don't.

Speaker 2 (55:28):
Forget to subscribe, rate and review It's easy.

Speaker 1 (55:31):
Watch the US Women's the Soccer Tournament coach using her
prize money from last year's TST championship for IVF, rating
ten out of ten happy crying emojis. Review Ooh, y'all,
this was a bona fide feel good moment.

Speaker 2 (55:45):
So okay.

Speaker 1 (55:46):
The Soccer Tournament seventy seven winner take all event took
place from June fourth through the ninth, consisting of eight
women's teams, one of which was called the US women.

Speaker 2 (55:54):
That squad pretty stacked.

Speaker 1 (55:56):
The roster included names like Friend of the Show, Joe Luyden,
Carly Lloyd, Elly Kreeger, Heather O'Reilly.

Speaker 2 (56:01):
You get the picture anyway.

Speaker 1 (56:03):
Former North Carolina courage Stark Kendall Fletcher is the head
coach of that US Women's squad and led him to
a second straight TST championship on Monday, while pregnant with
a little one. TST posted a video of Fletcher addressing
the team after the win, and in it, she revealed
that she'd used her chunk of the team's million dollar
cash prize from last year's TST Championship on IVF and

(56:24):
that the baby in her very belly was a result
of that process. OMG, you have to watch the video.
We'll link to it in the show notes. First watch
it for Kendall, then watch it for all the player
reactions in the background. Such a beautiful moment for that
group and not a bad payday. Now it's your turn,
rate and review. Thanks for listening, y'all. See you tomorrow.
When we talked to Howard Megdohl about his contributions to

(56:45):
the women's sports landscape and his new book about Caitlin Clark,
Good Game, Annie, Good Game, Ali Quigley, Hugh Ice, Forever
and Ever and Ever. Good Game with Sarah Spain is
an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue
Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by

(57:08):
Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones.
Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan,
and Emily Rutterer. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez,
Grace Lynch, and Gianna Palmer, Our associate producer is Lucy Jones,
and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain.