High level Conversations: Cari Champion

On this episode of Levels to This, Sheryl Swoopes and Terrika Foster-Brasby touch on a wide range of topics with reporter, journalist and sportscaster, Cari Champion. They talk openly about politics, education, and the fight for racial equality. Carrie shares insights on staying professional while speaking out on political issues and the importance of using your voice to spark change. The three then shift to basketball, discussing the Women’s College tournament so far, questions around what constitutes a rivalry, and the upcoming CBA negotiations for the WNBA.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Levels to This 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.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Hey, everybody, it's your girl to Rica Fosster Brasby.

Speaker 3 (00:17):
And I'm your girl, Cheryl Swoot.

Speaker 4 (00:19):
What's up y'all?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hey guys, And this is the Levels to this podcast.
This is the show where we share that there is
levels to the shit that women go through and we
have a fun show lined up for you today. But first, Cheryl,
what I do. You just celebrated a birthday?

Speaker 1 (00:40):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, when you get to a
certain age.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
I won't even say that. I think I'm saying that
because that's what everybody else says. Like, I really truly
enjoy my birthday and it's not about having like a
big party, a big celebration, but it's about it's my
day and I basically get to do whatever I want
to do, and my husband's like, go do what you
want to do. So had a really really great time

(01:09):
with him, with friends and family, and you.

Speaker 3 (01:13):
Know, just just did what I wanted to do.

Speaker 4 (01:15):
I had a.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
Great spot day and I relaxed a little bit, ate
some good food, watch some good hoops, and yeah it was.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
It was my fifty fourth birthday. Come on, fifty four,
let's go. Yeah. I love that.

Speaker 4 (01:36):
I absolutely love that.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
And I love the fact that as we get older,
like not old, but just older, how what makes us
happy on our birthday is so different and it's and
it's always been that way, you know, when you're when
you're four, your little party, your little cake.

Speaker 4 (01:54):
Your little friends.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yeah that was you know, I always hated the one
thing that I've always hated about my birthday, in particular
being in August, is that I never.

Speaker 4 (02:03):
Had a birthday in school.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
Like all my little friends used to have a birthday
in schools will bring the cakes and they had a
little you know, your birthday in March, you know, like
birthday in school, people bell your friends say happy birthday.
With my birthday being in the summer, that gets that
gets the in school, you know. And then I'd be
real Leo if I showed up in September talking about

(02:25):
it is my.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
Birthday, Like, no, it's okay. So I got a question
for you then, So you know how people when it's
your birthday how they pen money on you.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
Oh.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
Absolutely, here's my question. I think I know the answer
because I see your face. Y'all can't see her face,
but I can. At what age are you too old
to have money people penning money on you for your
birth Never?

Speaker 3 (02:50):
Never?

Speaker 4 (02:52):
Absolutely, that's what your face was saying.

Speaker 3 (02:55):
But I don't know. I feel like I'm like, I'm not.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
About to walk around with my money penned on me
and have people be like.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
Oh, it's okay, But it's but it's it's specific to
an occasion, Like you shouldn't just be walking around on
a regular Tuesday because it's your birthday with money pandleing you.
But like usually if it's a birthday party, birthdays on Tuesday, right,
But if you're not just a birthday, but if you're
having a birthday party or a birthday event where people

(03:22):
are coming to.

Speaker 4 (03:24):
Then do you like, oh, okay, it's my birthday.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
Like I didn't just.

Speaker 2 (03:27):
Walk around with money on me like I did it
at my birthday.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
You didn't just walk in the grocery store through the air.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
However, I will put on like a it's my birthday shirt,
it's my birthday pen the little birthday hat I do
all of that. You're gonna recognize me on my birthday,
I'll be damned. You better tell me happy birthday around here.
And this year, this year, on my birthday, I have
to work. I have a have a game. Yeah right, yeah,
So all expect all broadcasts for birthday shoutouts.

Speaker 4 (03:55):
If I don't get birday shutouts, it's gonna be crazy.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
See, Okay, I don't know.

Speaker 1 (03:59):
I when I was younger, of course, I was like, oh,
give me a girl, And I wanted the biggest safety.

Speaker 3 (04:04):
Pen I could find.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
Of course, yeah, I need to hold all the money.
And so when you're younger, people putting a dollar or
five dollars and you're like, oh, I got some money.
As I got older, I'm like, do not pen a
dollar on me.

Speaker 3 (04:17):
Do not pin a dollar.

Speaker 4 (04:18):
Don't you disrespect me. Don't do that.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
I started twenties. I don't even want to ten get
twenty fifty hundreds. I don't that's it. And if you
ain't got that, don't pin me.

Speaker 3 (04:29):
I know that's right.

Speaker 2 (04:31):
What I'm gonna do with a dollar, I can't even buy.
I can't even buy two bags of chips with a dollar. Girl,
If you even came by one bag, not nothing with
no dollar if you might as well, just you better
let them pen them fifties on you girl talking about
it's you too old, you and I'm fifty four. You
know what ma Mama would do for you, because she's
ninety five. If you fifty four, she would give you

(04:51):
fifty four pennies. Is that happy birthday?

Speaker 4 (04:53):
Baby?

Speaker 3 (04:54):
You said pennies?

Speaker 2 (04:55):
Pennies in a car, She'll tape them in a car
and ninety five years so she would take all them
pennies in a card and are you serious?

Speaker 4 (05:04):
She'd being funny, but she would definitely do it.

Speaker 3 (05:11):
I like your ninety five year old grandma.

Speaker 5 (05:13):
She is a.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
Fool, Okay, a fool, but anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed
your birthday.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
That's beautiful.

Speaker 1 (05:19):
It was a great birthday celebration. Thank you so much.
Thank you absolutely well. We have a great show lined
up today. I'm super excited about our guests. I love
seeing her on CNN going off on folks.

Speaker 3 (05:32):
She's just been a.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
Little bit of everything. I met her back when we
were working at ESPN. I was the producer of her
podcast Be Honest, so love me some. I'm a carry
champion and why wait, let's just get on.

Speaker 4 (05:45):
Right into it.

Speaker 5 (05:46):
Hey, guys, just want to give everyone a heads up
that we actually recorded this episode two weeks ago, prior
to Juju getting injured, and so much has changed since then,
but we still felt it was very necessary that we
had this conversation.

Speaker 3 (06:04):
So just giving you a heads up.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
All right, Cheryl, we have such a fun guest on
our show today. I mean, I don't even know where
to begin as it relates to titles, because I feel
like she does so many things right. Contributor to CNN,
host of Naked Sports on the Women's Sports podcast. She's
just you know, has an extensive resume across the broadcast
journalism space. But I think the most important title that

(06:34):
I can give her is friends. She's our friends.

Speaker 1 (06:38):
I'm raising my hand because I have another title for
her as well.

Speaker 4 (06:42):
What's that?

Speaker 3 (06:43):
You see?

Speaker 4 (06:43):
My title?

Speaker 3 (06:44):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (06:45):
That?

Speaker 4 (06:45):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (06:46):
It rich reminds me I was supposed to change change.

Speaker 3 (06:50):
Yes, she is. She is that beyond.

Speaker 2 (06:55):
Period Carrie Champion, I love care Champion.

Speaker 6 (07:01):
All of that.

Speaker 3 (07:02):
Thank you?

Speaker 5 (07:03):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (07:05):
Can I change my title?

Speaker 1 (07:09):
T you know, before we get into like the serious
ship and all of that. I gotta, I gotta give
carry a shout out real quick.

Speaker 3 (07:16):
Give her her love.

Speaker 4 (07:17):
She deserves it.

Speaker 1 (07:18):
And it's not because she's wearing that U c l
A shirt. I know you're gonna represent. Listen, it's love
over here usc U c l A because I love
me some juju, I love me some Lauren Beds.

Speaker 3 (07:30):
Anyway, let me get this out the way I might
shed a terror. Two.

Speaker 6 (07:36):
Oh, I love it.

Speaker 3 (07:38):
Don't do this, don't do it.

Speaker 1 (07:39):
I'm gonna keep it short and sweet because I don't
want to cry today.

Speaker 3 (07:43):
It's a good day for me. But carry champion.

Speaker 1 (07:47):
Yes, t you remember when we had our sister Jamel
Hill all right, yep, And it was kind of the
same conversation where we may not talk all the time,
but I was going through some ship and this is
right here along with Jamel, picked up the phone, called me.
We talked, I cried, I screamed, I cursed, I did everything,

(08:11):
and Carrie was right there.

Speaker 3 (08:13):
She lifted me up in a moment.

Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yeah that I was in a very low place. And
it's people like her. And even though she may not
know this, Carrie, I'm just I'm telling you this. You
did more for me on that phone call than you'll
ever know, and I want to say thank you from
the bottom of my heart for getting me through that
shit that I was going through. And I don't want

(08:38):
to bring up what it was all the things, but
you two know, so thank you from the bottom of
my heart for just always being real, being you, being there.
And I greatly appreciate you.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
So thank you.

Speaker 6 (08:53):
I appreciate you. I love you. Like if I'm hugging
and I'm yelling so you can hear all of that.

Speaker 3 (09:00):
We know the hugs I feel, the hugs I.

Speaker 6 (09:02):
Love you, and the respect the love is mutual for you,
Cheryl as well to you already know how I feel
about you. Tea g G my first book podcast, Hold
Me Down. So yeah, o G. You know, look, we're
human and it's heavy. Sometimes it's heavy, you know. And

(09:22):
I think that our business always needs we need to
have that group chat or we need to have you
behind us that we are exactly the titles that we
are that we see right now.

Speaker 2 (09:32):
Yeah, and and honestly, like when I ask you this question, Carrie,
like it's not like a formality just like a hey,
like what's up?

Speaker 4 (09:40):
Like I'm going to ask you how are you?

Speaker 2 (09:43):
And like and I mean that like, how are you
like it's heavy right now?

Speaker 6 (09:47):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (09:47):
Yeah, you know, yes, yeah, you know.

Speaker 1 (09:51):
You Remember the other day we were talking and I said,
check on your strong.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
Friends, strong friends. Yes, because your strong friends are always
checking on you who's checking on them? So I love
that you ask her.

Speaker 6 (10:02):
That question, like how are you feel? Thank you for
asking me. I thank you for asking that question. Right
now in this moment, I feel good because I get
to talk to you guys. But I think overall, I'm
really concerned with where we live the world, what we're doing,
probably too much so because I have an empathetic spirit.
But every day I think about, you know, what is

(10:25):
going to look like for black and brown people in
the United States of America. I'm also just disappointed in
how easy we can go back and we can erase
history and nothing wrong. I feel like I'm living sometimes
in an episode of Handmaid's Tale. It's just really wild

(10:47):
because we're just living our lives. But ultimately, I will
say I do have a lot of encouragement because in
the process of the madness, I've seen so many strong,
brave individuals find their way and find their voice, and maybe,
you know, maybe this is all God's plan. It has
to be. That's the only thing that gives me pizza
of where we are. You know, my God doesn't make

(11:09):
a mistake. So how I feel good. I feel energized.
I feel like I want to be a part of
the revolution. I feel like I'm just going to contribute
in whatever way I can. But personally, like, honestly, just
like work, life and friends and all that is all
looking up so us, all that is amazing.

Speaker 3 (11:29):
All love that. I love that.

Speaker 6 (11:31):
That's so great? You know? And do I get distracted?
Do it? What do I do? So right now I
feel like I'm taking I'm thinking like what did my
friends say? Do you guys know Pastor Jamal Bryant, I
don't know. Ye. The other day they were talking about
boycotting and what they're going to do with Someone's like,
why are you trying to boycott Target? What do you
what do you mean? Why are you telling your people

(11:52):
go to your church and using your platform to say
boycott Target? And he said, you know, when you want
to kill an elephant, you got to do it one
bite at a time. And he was like, I just
want to be focused on something to show that I
am alive and I am well and so yeah, I'm
focused on using my platform to show that I'm alive
and i am well and in the process like that
keeps trusting me. So I'm happy and that you know

(12:13):
yes and yes, and so thank you Franks.

Speaker 1 (12:15):
Yes, I want to go back to something that you
touched when you said that, because for me, what gets
me through all this shit that we're dealing with is
exactly that I say. This is all part part of
God's plan, and as tough as it is, as scary
as it is, I do feel like it's part of

(12:36):
God's plan.

Speaker 3 (12:37):
But in saying that, I'm like, you can't.

Speaker 1 (12:39):
You can't live in fear and have faith, right, Yes,
So it's got to be one or the other. But
I want to jump right into this because I'm a
big Abbie Phillips fan.

Speaker 3 (12:50):
I want to try to show religiously.

Speaker 1 (12:52):
Therefore, I get to see our cysts on there when
you're on there. A couple of nights ago, I saw
our other sis, Angela raie H, and let me just
tell you, the two of you remind me a lot
of each other because you're gonna just say what you feel,
which is which is which is usually right. But what

(13:13):
I loved about her the other day, and you do
the same thing. She basically said to I think it
was Kevin O'Leary when she said, don't touch me. Yes,
but you know what, But he looked at her like,
what do you mean, don't touch you? And she was like,
I don't need you in my space. I don't need
you touch me, so don't touch me. So Carrie, my
question for you is, because I'm Angela, if I'm on

(13:36):
that show, I don't know if I could keep my
shit together the way you do a lot of times
when you're on there, because people be saying crazy shit
and coming yes, like how how do you remain professional
but also bring the smoke when you need to bring
the smoke.

Speaker 6 (13:57):
I don't know if I remain professional if I'm being
honest with you. Sometimes I in the moment because I
speak there's two things two things, and there's nothing wrong
with this. I think you'll see how people that are
black and brown marginalize people. We are very emotional because
we feel something happening, we feel our rights being taken away,
we feel we know what it feels like to be marginalized,

(14:19):
ohpress and or we know where really you can point
to a moment when you walked in the store and
somebody said, or you know, the treatment that you receive
sometimes because of who you are as a woman or
a black woman. There's so much emotion in our responses
that I remind myself. I don't know what Angela does,
but for me, I remind myself that it's okay to

(14:39):
have emotion. I don't want to I don't want to
silence that part of me because that is why I'm
speaking from my heart. But I also know that I'm
just not mature enough for somebody these conversations. I always
I'm I'm just not an adult, and I'm okay with that.
Like I have said, sometimes I'm not mature enough for
this conversation, but I'm gonna try. You know, I'm going
to do my And then you see the hands are moving.

(15:01):
Once my hand starts moving, I'm like, oh, Carrie, sit
on it's a wrap because I'm like, sit on your hands.
You know, yeah, I'll be sitting on my hands, but
I'd be like this, you know.

Speaker 3 (15:11):
Yeah, right it.

Speaker 6 (15:13):
But then sometimes things just come out and they are
a clap back, and you don't know they are a
clap back because we just have that magical way with words,
you know how we do as when we just have it,
You're like, we did I just say that that's cool?

Speaker 3 (15:26):
Yeah yeah, but it's true.

Speaker 6 (15:29):
It's what we feel in the moment. And I think
the first few months I started doing her show, I've
been doing this since lash year on a regular basis.
With the first few months, I would come home at night,
if I'm honest with you guys, and I felt bad
because I didn't want to be on TV going at people.
What I felt was going at what I felt was
going out of my character. I didn't want to do that.

(15:50):
I felt I was like, Okay, I got to get
better at this. They're so dismissive, they don't care. I
gotta have or calmness. They're so smug. But it's because
when you feel like you're better than someone, you can
do that. You can approach it like don't matter. When
you don't have a heart, when you don't have empathy,
when you don't really care about the world at large
and it's all large for you, you can be that dismissive

(16:14):
and smug and disapproving of someone else. I can't do that.
I have to be like the world are we living
in am I crazy? And I also think something that's
happening right now is that we're being forced to be silent,
and silent sometime is complicit and I don't want to
be complicit. Like I think, we're worried in real time
about a lot of things. But this is my other

(16:36):
people are ancestors. I think about this all the time.
They went through far.

Speaker 3 (16:39):
Home, yes, Carrie, far.

Speaker 6 (16:42):
More than we went through. We don't. We are a
generation of people who don't like to be inconvenience. We
got money, we got spin, we can shop, we gotta
radio show, all the things we have, all the experiences
in accouterments. And I was like, well, the things that

(17:08):
come with the meal, and so we were good and
I don't want to lose all of the extras that
come with the meal. But then you think about the boycott.
They did a bus boycott for a year and change.
You're how organized you have to be organized, You have
to be to basically take down a giant and then
and and and and walk and say I'm walking instead.
And then there were those who didn't always walk. Some

(17:28):
had to catch the bus because they had to. And
that's okay. You can cross the picket line if need be.
But my point being is that they went through far more,
but that was because they could see that they weren't
getting what they deserve. Yes, the stability, yes, And so
now we are clouded by the fact that we live well,
we make money.

Speaker 2 (17:48):
We got first world problem, real first world problem, first
world problems, real First war problems.

Speaker 6 (17:53):
People talking about should I go move to Portugal. You're like,
that's a real problem. Our ancestors never had. They didn't
have the option, right, my.

Speaker 1 (18:00):
God, Like you are speaking right now. I've said this
to a lot of people. I'm like, listen, yes, shit
is bad out there right now. Sure, but it's nothing
in comparison to what our ancestors went through.

Speaker 3 (18:15):
They didn't have a choice.

Speaker 6 (18:16):
They didn't have a choice.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
And so you know what, I am one of those
people who call me crazy, but I look at people
like they're crazy when they tell me that they want
to move. In my head, I'm like, I don't know,
Maybe it's just me because I feel like when something
belongs to me, you not feel like, does it piss
me off?

Speaker 4 (18:33):
Absolutely?

Speaker 2 (18:34):
Do I have a voice that I'm going to use
in a platform that I'm going to use, absolutely, But
my ancestors built this country. My great grandparents who I
still live with, my ninety five year old grandmother who
lives in Detroit right now, who march to ask down,
were with Martin Luther King to Joe Louis Arena in
nineteen in the nineteen sixties. Will not look at me
like she respects me if I say, you know what,
it's so hard here. I think you're going to move

(18:55):
to Canada. No, No, You're not forcing.

Speaker 3 (18:59):
Me to run out my own country. That's crazy.

Speaker 6 (19:02):
Yeah, I love you for saying that, because we need
that passion in that fight. I think after the election
I didn't have. I was really like, I'm all set.
I'm taking this cape off and take a nap. I'm
all set. I was just all set. I was just
all set on everything.

Speaker 5 (19:15):
Yep.

Speaker 6 (19:16):
But but I also am fighting a different fight than
what our grandparents were fighting for. It's a very different
fight we did. We we do need to pay attention
to what they were actually fighting for and what we're
fighting for now. And everyone is under this illusion and
it's delusional. If I'm being honest with you, that back

(19:39):
in the sixties everybody was on the same page. They weren't.
We have type of leaders, Malcolm Martin, you know, friend Panthers. Yep,
I go down the list. We just it was a
bunch Medgar Eversa. We had a bunch of different leaders.
What we need to know is that everyone found their tribe,

(19:59):
got with their tribe and did what they had to do,
and collectively it worked. And so we have to do that. Now.
Everybody's not going to want to lead or speak out
the way that I'm speaking out or Angela, and that's fine.
I ever feel bad about that. Some people want to boycott,
some people don't want a boycott, that's fine too, But
whatever you feel like your way of protesting and saying

(20:20):
I am a tax paying citizen in the United States
of America. My ancestors built this country and so so
and therefore I have the individual right to protest and
or say what I want to do it you do
it your way. If you want to cook for the
people that are picketing, do that, then they I'll be
on the frontline providing meals. I can't go out there
and do that because I might lose my job and
I don't want to do that, but I'll be on

(20:41):
the frontline providing, and that's the only thing I've been
trying to get out to everyone because our emotions can't
drive us. And I'm learning that in real time, I
make real bad decisions when I'm super emotional. I really Yeah, sure,
I'll know me too. I don't believe that.

Speaker 3 (20:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (20:58):
My husband tells me all the time. He's like, Babe,
do not make an emotional decision. But I do that
all the time. Yeah, And I think it's gotten worse
post election. Right, And to your point, Carrie, like, there's
so many times I'm just like, I gotta do something right.

(21:21):
So I try to use my voice when I can.
I'm gonna be honest with you. I feel very good
when I hear people talk about Target stock is down
and how they've lost billions, because I say, good, me
not going to Target is making a difference.

Speaker 3 (21:38):
I don't know how much, but when we.

Speaker 1 (21:40):
All get together as a collective and say here is
what we're going to do, and we are on the
same page, it makes a difference. Because I was that
I'm going to Target every single day just because I
need me some fresh white sheets. I don't know, just
let's just go to Target. And I'm gonna walk through
the aisles and shot same.

Speaker 6 (22:00):
You just want to spend twenty dollars, You're like, if
they check out five hundred and twenty two dollars.

Speaker 3 (22:04):
As why put it back, put it back, put it back.

Speaker 2 (22:08):
I don't want to go down this rabbit hole, but
I just feel like I might be the one person
in the world who never shopped at Target anyway because
it is so exped I don't care how much money
I make. I don't never want to spend none for real.

Speaker 3 (22:21):
Like like, I know that is good for you.

Speaker 6 (22:25):
For you to say you don't need money. We are
a spending generation. I don't know about y'all. I'll take
one to two. I'll take two of that and three
of those. Boo real.

Speaker 4 (22:34):
I spend it on the stupidest stuff.

Speaker 3 (22:36):
It doesn't make any sense.

Speaker 2 (22:37):
Like machine order is crazy my Amazon and Amazon for sure.
I definitely Machine car is just out of control.

Speaker 6 (22:45):
Like terror gonna get you.

Speaker 3 (22:48):
I don't know how you're gonna stop that in a minute.

Speaker 2 (22:51):
That's gonna get me. I drink Remy Martine, and that's.

Speaker 3 (22:55):
Gonna get any money.

Speaker 2 (22:57):
I said, listen, y'all can put tariffs on whatever y'all want.
But y'all better leave France alone.

Speaker 6 (23:03):
Listen, don't play with mama's wine, because that's what we
really move about the country. I'm out of here because
I need my wine.

Speaker 4 (23:09):
That's how I survive. That is how we survived.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
But you know what, I think it's more so not
just the fact that you have to can because I
I would never be able to CANTRY. I have a
degree in political science, and I was like, I could
never work on CNN. I was so fired so fast,
it was so bad. They will don let me real quick,
get up out of here.

Speaker 4 (23:32):
Sis, you can't be back.

Speaker 6 (23:34):
You don is out of them. Don said, I've been
I've been right for so so so long. He's like zero.

Speaker 3 (23:43):
Zero, no, no, f's given.

Speaker 1 (23:53):
So, you know, carry every single day there's something something
that that man in the White House, Because I to
there's something he does every single day every day.

Speaker 3 (24:03):
It's something so to me.

Speaker 1 (24:07):
Two things that recently happened that I was just like,
are we really doing this? And how and how can
other people besides black and brown people? Right, you sign
an executive order to cancel the Department of Education, and
you are removing Jackie Robinson, Medgar Evers you're removing people

(24:30):
from our history that had a lot to do with
making America great, right, And I'm not saying make it
great again because it was never great for us.

Speaker 2 (24:41):
It was never great the first time. Now, So how
is it that?

Speaker 1 (24:45):
And I don't care what side of the aisle you
sit on, right, but how is it that those people
can be okay with with a lot of the stuff
he's done, but in particular like Department of Education and
basically saying, Jackie Robinson, you didn't because you were a
black man.

Speaker 4 (25:02):
What you did for this country doesn't matter.

Speaker 6 (25:06):
You know what. So thank you for asking that question.
This is the UCLA show I'm wearing as a Jackie
Robinson edition. By the way, lescal to your first question
about the Department of Education dismantling the Department of Education,
they will always lean the conservative side, will always lean
on economy. They will tell you this is all about
the economy. They will tell you this is about overspending.

(25:27):
And they're saying the reason why they're trying to dismantle
because you can't fully dismantle it. It takes an Act
of Congress to do it. But when you're start shutting
down certain positions, and departments. He says that he will say.
He says that is because he wants to give it
to the states. Give the education back to the states.
They should be in charge of the education, each individual

(25:50):
state Connecticut for you, Texas for you, California for me,
and New York whatever they want, the state to be
in charge. The Department of Education made sure that. And
you know how schools get funded, right, yes, based on
the neighborhood that they live in. And so the Department
of Education made sure that some of these underfunded schools
were allowed to get money and resources they normally wouldn't have.

(26:10):
And the first thing that I think a dictator does
is remove education so that people are not smart enough
to understand being duped and treated differently, and they don't
know any better, and the law of the land is created.
If you look at dictatorships all across the world over
the years, this is exactly what they do. It's a playbook.

(26:31):
And he's going down a playbook from dictators of past
and present and seeing what worked and what didn't work.
And that's why all of these things are just really
really distractions. Until he has the full control of what
he wants, everything else is a distraction. Elon Musk provides
cover for him. So we think we're mad at must,
but we're really mad at him. It's a mutually beneficial

(26:53):
relationship for both of them. And I think that we
are watching in real time. We never thought it could
happen in America. But why not. Every other country has
had a dictatorship, every other government has fallen. Why would
an Americans government fall?

Speaker 3 (27:06):
Absolutely every great nation has fallen.

Speaker 6 (27:09):
Every great nation has fallen, And people think that we're
being alarmists, But I, you know, and I just I
don't want to keep referencing this that TV show, But
I remember there was this one scene and animates tell
and she said, while she's walking in her red She's
all like, we all were asleep while he ignored the constitution.
We were asleep while reported people by the thousands, hundreds

(27:29):
of thousands. We were asleep while unmarked plane closed officers,
ice officers walked up to a guy while he's having
dinner with his wife and arrested him and put him
in a plane vehicle. We were all asleep. What part
of that is constitutional? How are you coming? I wish
do you know how dangerous that is? Walking up to
someth and saying we're putting you under arrest, not knowing

(27:52):
who that person is. This can't end well, you get
the ripe one who has the time. It's going to
be violent, yes, And he's pushing and pushing more chaos
because if you push more chaos, you'll be want something
to provide order, and he wants to be the order
of the chaos that he's already created.

Speaker 4 (28:07):
That's it.

Speaker 3 (28:08):
It's it's crazy.

Speaker 2 (28:09):
But what's even worse is that as you look at
things being unconstitutional, you have an even more saddening feeling
that the folks who are put in place to protect
the integrity of a constitution are those who are also
making the decision that these things are are not unconstitutional.

(28:30):
So we don't even have the checks and balances across
all three of our government to protect us. We don't
have enough people in Congress who are fighting, and those
who are are limited to some degree. We don't have
enough Supreme Court justices because the Supreme Court has been
stacked on the right. So it is like, are we

(28:50):
we just were not.

Speaker 6 (28:51):
Just people saying I'm moving because she's like, if I
don't have anybody in Congress fighting for me, or if
he's like, I don't have anybody in the Senate fighting
for me. Great movement, and I think you it historically
has been from the people. It's gonna come from the people,
and from.

Speaker 3 (29:05):
It has to, It has to, and it can come.

Speaker 2 (29:09):
It can actually come more quickly than people recognize if
they understand the power that they have. Because in twenty
twenty five and twenty twenty six and parts of twenty
twenty seven, there are congressional elections that are happening across
the United States. You do not have to keep them
same ignorant individuals into your political offices. If people put
the entire amount of time and effort and dedication that

(29:31):
they put into the presidential election into removing senators and
representatives who do not align with your benefits.

Speaker 4 (29:38):
This is why this isn't why.

Speaker 2 (29:40):
Half of the political arguments I get in on social
media is about shit like this. It's like, y'all spit
two and a half months argued about why y'all hate Kamala.

Speaker 4 (29:49):
That's what y'all did.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
Y'all talked about why y'all can't stand her black ass,
blah blah blah blah blah. Yeah, can you put that
same energy into District thirty six to the person that's
been sitting on Capitol Hill for forty five years. Absolutely
nothing to all the things you think that Kamala was
supposed to say for you. Yeah, that's that's what I'm
talking about. So we don't have to suffer for a
lot of this congressional shit for much longer. If people

(30:12):
wise it up and utilize the voice and the power
that they have.

Speaker 6 (30:16):
I hope they do. I hope they do. So I
think that I think that what you're saying is right.
You see, you see these town hall meetings all across
the country, and people are angry that you get get
veteran angry, and they're yelling. People don't have anything. They
are mad, and they're letting their representatives know. Now, the
hope is that we see something during the midterms, because

(30:36):
the midterms will be here and that's going to be
a strong indication of how this country feels. Yeah, if
they start kicking people out and you're starting to see
new people and they flip the house and they flip
this in it, we we're good. I don't know what happened,
but here's my here's here's what I do know. I
need everybody, no matter who you are, whether you think
this is relevant or not. You talked about your ninety

(30:56):
five year o grandmother. My ninety five year grandmother sadly
voted for trum. But I'll tell you why she voted
for Trump. She's old enough to think that women should
not be in these types of positions, which is so ironic.

Speaker 3 (31:07):
So wow, that was her.

Speaker 6 (31:09):
That was her philosophy, old school, so old school women preachers.
You know, it's a woman and segregated, segregated South and
and her thought processes, I'd rather us be separate but
equal like. And I'm like, grandmother's no such thing.

Speaker 3 (31:23):
There's no such thing now, but.

Speaker 6 (31:25):
It was better when we was. I was like, it
doesn't work that way. So she life pass her by
really quickly. And here she's ninety five years old, and
she realizes that a lot of people have buy a
remorse with Trump. And she pulled me aside the other day,
it's two weeks ago. I was at home. She goes,
I made a mistake. But I'm going to tell you this,
save your money. Because the more and more I pay

(31:46):
attention to what's going on, we are in a world
of trouble. This woman is ninety five years old. Were
to say that sit she holds down my spoe, yes,
and she was like, I made a mistake and I
want you to save your money. That's her answer. Her
answer to all of this was saving savory. You're your
house because it's about to be some lean times.

Speaker 3 (32:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (32:06):
As much as we're like I'm not going to support
right certain things, we still have to be very realistic
in that as well, you know what I mean.

Speaker 3 (32:15):
So I did.

Speaker 1 (32:15):
Tune in right to the inauguration, and besides seeing all
of these billionaires, what got me was so I used
to be used to be a Carrie Underwood fan. I
love Carrie's music. I loved her on American Idol, all
the things. I would listen to her music. What got
me was when I saw how she disrespected Kamala Harris

(32:38):
and basically didn't want to shake her hand.

Speaker 6 (32:40):
And I was like, really, I think that is so disgusting, And.

Speaker 1 (32:46):
So I kid you not not that not that it's
going to affect her pocket at all. She don't know me,
But I went in my phone and I deleted all
of my carry on.

Speaker 6 (32:59):
By the way, I'm glad.

Speaker 4 (33:00):
To UH made it made me feel good.

Speaker 2 (33:03):
I want to get to your level of pettiness well,
and I gotta love you on my own.

Speaker 6 (33:08):
I'm sure you hit on something that bothers me more
than anything. There is just no class. They are so
happy in the wind, those who supported Trump, and they
don't know how to be a gracious winner while they
say we're poor losers. And it's like, you don't have
to disrespect common you don't. You can what but one?
But I also want the people on the left, like
in terms of the Congress, I want you to to

(33:30):
be on that same energy. You can't be not you
can't play a nice heart. Shall said, when they go low,
we go lower. She don't change her.

Speaker 4 (33:41):
We've been doing that.

Speaker 1 (33:42):
You're just not figuring that a way for you.

Speaker 3 (33:46):
You just figured it out.

Speaker 6 (33:48):
Shall we be doing that. We've been doing that since
we appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (33:52):
Yeah, we've been on that energy. We've been on that energy.

Speaker 6 (33:55):
She would tell us to go high.

Speaker 3 (33:56):
We were like, as it sounds.

Speaker 4 (34:00):
Really cute, which is but I was like, I'm taking
it the hell.

Speaker 6 (34:05):
You I'm going to where I'm going to the al.

Speaker 1 (34:10):
Okay, wish, but nah, not doing that.

Speaker 6 (34:15):
I love, I love to wear an agreement. I I
know that you probably didn't want to talk all politics.
I was happy just to do the show because, first

(34:36):
of all, you know, I love you both, but I
wanted to talk. I want I want a job to
tell me all about March madness and was my team
gonna win it all?

Speaker 4 (34:42):
Oh, you about to be mad at me?

Speaker 6 (34:44):
Here?

Speaker 3 (34:45):
She about to be mad at us.

Speaker 6 (34:48):
I knew. I knew y'all was gonna say that. I
knew y'all was gonna say that.

Speaker 4 (34:51):
But you know, but you know what.

Speaker 3 (34:53):
Here's the thing.

Speaker 2 (34:53):
Here's the thing is that I actually love this for
U C l A. Like I I love the fact
that they are I am very high on them getting
to the final four. I feel like they have a
favorable region. They should dominate that region. Well, let me
take that back. They should dominate the first couple of rounds.
I think if they get a chance to play like
Old Miss, they'll be challenging. If they have to play

(35:14):
like LSU or something like that, like, they'll be challenged,
But for the first couple of rounds they should dominate easily.

Speaker 3 (35:20):
Right.

Speaker 2 (35:20):
The problem with UCLA is that I think they forget
that they have more experience than they.

Speaker 3 (35:27):
Think they do.

Speaker 2 (35:28):
We say like, oh, they haven't been here before, but
like y'all been playing together for three and a half
years at this point, Lauren Betts is six foot seven.
Ain't nobody got nothing, no kind of smoke for her whatsoever.
And Corey Close has been one of the best coaches
in women's basketball for I don't know how long y'all
have got it, but execute own it, and I am

(35:49):
doubtful about their execution. When you get mopped by USC twice,
you ain't supposed.

Speaker 6 (35:55):
To let the mop build twice. And if it goes right,
they'll meet them again. Right, So it's like, do you
play each other a fourth time? If it goes if
if if everything alignes according to the brackets, they play
each other a fourth time? Are they tired? Do they remember?
As you will ce rejuvenile? You know, jud you ain't
no joke, no joke. I was there for the second
game at U C l A and she and we
was we was getting They handed it to us like

(36:17):
it was embarrassing. I was with your girl, jam she
was she was acting up. She was talking to us.
I said, well, did they get you courtside? Because if
you like my husband's and tickets, I said, and I
know they won't. I'm gonna need you to I need
to d right on my dime.

Speaker 3 (36:38):
Everybody was.

Speaker 6 (36:40):
Like you so tense. I was like, have you seen
yourself with Michigan State.

Speaker 2 (36:44):
We got a game, we got a game, we got
a game today.

Speaker 6 (36:46):
I need it's serious. So she understood where I was
coming from. To your point, Tarika, you know what I
think is interesting about my team. They need to be
more hood. We need some more goons that we need facts.
I was sitting in front of a lady. She was like,
you CLA wins with class. And I was like, well,
that's not going There's a big owner, her husband, UCLA

(37:13):
spends a lot of money. They got money, money, money,
She's a big, big booster. And she was like, but
she was telling because her daughter was sitting next to me,
and her daughter was going in and we was all pumped,
and she was like, honey, we win with class. I
was like, that's not going to get us there, babe.
I was like.

Speaker 1 (37:26):
With all now, you're right, because here's my thing. When
I when I look at it the other side of
LA and I know, okay, the hood side, but.

Speaker 3 (37:35):
I know I know there's a lot of stuff that
has to happen.

Speaker 1 (37:39):
But my thing is when when I look at USC
and U s LA one hundred percent, Juju is that girl.

Speaker 3 (37:46):
She is her. But overall U c l.

Speaker 1 (37:49):
A has a better team to me overall, Right, But
to Tea's point, I think U c l A needs
to like understand that and know that and be like, Okay,
y'all got Juju, and we gonna respect Juju, but we
got way more than Juju. And that's how they got
to play. And again to Tea's point, listen, Lauren Betts,

(38:14):
you gotta get your ass on the block. I love
me some Lauren Betts, but I need Lauren Bett to
get on the ass on the block. I need you
to command the basketball, and when you get it, I
need you to be strong. We didn't go to work
because when she decides, when she decides.

Speaker 3 (38:29):
That she is going to score, she can't.

Speaker 1 (38:33):
And if they go send a double and triple team,
she also is a I think, a really good passer
out of a double team or triple team. But she's
got to be stronger with the basketball. I was so
happy she said she was going to go back another
year because I think she needs that year to come
into the W and be really good when she enters
the draft.

Speaker 5 (38:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (38:54):
I don't know who she's working with, but I need
her to work with in terms of, you know, a profession.

Speaker 5 (39:00):
You know.

Speaker 6 (39:00):
Maybe I'm sure you can't because you're you're loyalty, but
I need somebody to get in there and get.

Speaker 3 (39:05):
What did you say, she said your loyalty said.

Speaker 6 (39:12):
Yes, you like USC and Juju, I don't know.

Speaker 1 (39:15):
No, no, Just to be clear, neither of these teams
are my team. Okay, so that ain't not my loyalty. Okay,
if we're gonna talk about loyalty, and I don't know
if that's the word i'd use, but I would say this.
I ride with South Carolina and Don Staley all day
that that Yeah.

Speaker 3 (39:37):
That's what That's what.

Speaker 6 (39:39):
We do.

Speaker 2 (39:41):
That is what makes it hard being a fan and
an analyst when it comes to college, because you you
have to roll with your with your squad. I graduated
from an HBCU, I did a few semesters at Michigan
State University, and I grew up a Michigan State fans.
So as it relates to D one, I'm spartan all
day long. Right, But I tried to tone that down

(40:03):
for women's basketball, just because it's like, hey, you want
to be professional, you want to be fair.

Speaker 3 (40:08):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 4 (40:09):
So I try.

Speaker 2 (40:10):
I'm not always successful, but I try. Men's basketball. Leave
me alone today when we play. Don't call me, don't
text me. I'm talking. I was talking about Michigan last night.
I thought they was spinn Leans.

Speaker 3 (40:22):
I got so excited.

Speaker 2 (40:24):
Y'all myop bracket up. If that means Michigan is going home,
they got to go. Hater won one hundred percent one
one hundred percent.

Speaker 3 (40:35):
Don't know.

Speaker 2 (40:35):
Bas and Blue get no love around here. So that
is what it is.

Speaker 3 (40:38):
But so hard not to cheer for South Carolina.

Speaker 4 (40:41):
It's so hard not to cheer for Dawn Staley, Like
is the level of excellence that.

Speaker 2 (40:45):
She continues to just she has completely shifted the standard
to me of what women's basketball is and where it
should be. I think I would love to owe the
parody that we have in women's college basketball. Now to
the beginnings of how she started to turn around not
one program, but two, because she didn't just do it
at South Carolina, she turned around simple too.

Speaker 4 (41:06):
So at the end of the day, it's just it's
so fun.

Speaker 2 (41:09):
I love the fact that I look at this tournament
and I can't fill out a bracket anymore and say, well,
we know the first two rounds is gonna be Na.
We see upsets, Yeah, you see people go like, we
see players go off, like the madness is real. And
what I love more than anything about where we are
now with women's basketball is just the way that people

(41:31):
have an opportunity to make a name for themselves.

Speaker 3 (41:33):
Now.

Speaker 2 (41:34):
I can never forget Jackie Young in twenty nineteen. She
was not the projected number one overall. She was until
it was supposed to be Sabrina Mescu that year, right,
and then the tournament came and Notre Dame showed out
in that tournament and then they made it all the
way to the finals against Baylor, And granted Baylor got
the w that year, but at the end of the day, it.

Speaker 4 (41:56):
Was like, yeah, and Worship been off season.

Speaker 6 (42:00):
She WASNA, you're too late to get all his money,
but yeah, you know what I mean, like late to
get and I love it. It was building. All of
it was building the building blocks. You're absolutely right, I
think don I even and coach and I I will
be very honest of Corey and I talk all the time.
I fly out for UCLA. I do things for them
all the time. That's my g She can call me

(42:21):
up and I'll do anything for her.

Speaker 3 (42:23):
Love it.

Speaker 6 (42:24):
But as UCLA was making this run, I remember her
asking if I wanted to go to the game in
South Carolina, and I was like, oh, I'm want to
miss that one. I have to miss that one because
I don't want you to be mad at me when
I get excited to don Yeah. To your point, it's
being a black woman before going to.

Speaker 4 (42:46):
Yeah, it's all it is.

Speaker 6 (42:48):
I was like, she's smart enough to understand that. Like,
but I'm still rooting for you, Like I still want
you all to win. But you understand I feel such
such a and loyalty in history and why I'm like,
go ahead, you get all this to make all the demands.
How you be in zone, be unapologetic, be a fighter.
They know two things. My team's not going there because

(43:10):
if their race is.

Speaker 3 (43:11):
My yes, that's what for me.

Speaker 1 (43:15):
But besides, I played with don you know in the
w played with their the Olympics, like all of those things.
I'm like, that's my girl. But here's what I really
here's what I really pull hard for Don is because
she's one of us, and people are always sitting waiting
for her as a black woman to fail, but they

(43:37):
don't want to sit there and cheer her on and
her successes. And you know, for so long we have
been told as as a black woman and looked at
as a black woman leading in NC double a Division one.

Speaker 3 (43:50):
Team, you can't do it.

Speaker 1 (43:53):
You as a black woman can't win a championship, You
can't recruit, you can't get the all of those things.
And Don Staley, she she don't say nothing. She like,
just watch me, Just watch me. I'm gonna do all
the things that you say I can't. I'm gonna turn
this shit around. Yeah, and I'm gonna get what I deserve.
Like I sit back and I watch all these things,

(44:13):
like I text on it ain't got none to do
with basketball. But I'll just say thank you, right, just
thank you. She she gets.

Speaker 4 (44:20):
It, she sees it.

Speaker 1 (44:22):
She's a great mentor for these young ladies, and it's
it's just hard for me to not not pull for her,
right Yeah. And I'm always when people come for her,
they come for her players. I'm gonna be the first
one to be like, oh no, we're not gonna do that.

Speaker 4 (44:38):
We not gonna do it.

Speaker 2 (44:39):
You not gonna come for Dawn Staley, Like that's just
a body. And I think folks often forget that it
wasn't in those same comments that you're that you're saying
they said about her, which they did. They now turn
all of that around to make it a negative. They
now turned all that around and say, well, of course
she wins all.

Speaker 3 (44:55):
These all Americans, for all these all Americans.

Speaker 2 (44:58):
It's like, but you said I couldn't crew all Americans,
And they said, well, of course she has all these
great facilities because they.

Speaker 3 (45:05):
Paid her all this money. But y'all don't know.

Speaker 2 (45:06):
Don Staley put her own money into this program early on,
before it got to where it was. It's like everything
that y'all are saying was a negative that have now
become a positive. Now we're gonna figure out how to
make that thing a netive. It's just a cycle that
will never end. And as we talk about Michelle Obama
telling us when they go low that we go lower
doing maybe one of the few people who still goes high. Yeah,

(45:28):
And it's another reason why we continue to respect her.

Speaker 3 (45:31):
And everything that she's doing.

Speaker 2 (45:33):
But I will say this, if there's one team that's
gonna really try to come for her neck this year.

Speaker 4 (45:42):
It ain't USC and it ain't even UCLA.

Speaker 3 (45:46):
It's u Con.

Speaker 2 (45:48):
You come mad, I know, I know you come mad
out here, y'all.

Speaker 4 (45:53):
You constant.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
The last time we got to the National championship, it
was South Carolina. Last time we took a real l
that we ain't really like, it was South Carolina. They
ain't feel less out in their mind. I'm not saying
this is legit. I'm just saying in their mind, they
feeling like this is Page's last run. Busy Fudd is back,

(46:14):
Sarah Strong out here looking like one of the best
freshmens this season.

Speaker 4 (46:18):
They like.

Speaker 2 (46:19):
Listen, y'all can say all y'all want about South care
y'all can talk about the Big East being easy and
US coasted and all of that stuff.

Speaker 4 (46:25):
But I tell you what, they popped South.

Speaker 3 (46:27):
Carolina and did and did. I was mad about it too.

Speaker 2 (46:33):
And y'all know I live in Connecticut too, and I'll
be like, oh God, they got a whole barade down town.

Speaker 4 (46:38):
They acting up, you kind of coming.

Speaker 6 (46:42):
They mean it. No, you're right, that's what you know.
I thought about that, and they want to prove they
have a lot to prove. You know what I think
is interesting. I'm really curious about how you feel people
are are receiving women's basketball. It's not that same fever
pitch when it was Caitlin and Angel Reese and just
feel that exciting. Do you think women's basketball needs that

(47:04):
rivalry to get that get more? I mean they're still
spending the money, people are still but like the excitement
of where the man down the street who never watched
women basketball is talking about it, you know what I mean?
You know how when you guys stop by. I don't
feel that this time. But Maani had an interesting take,
and I don't always listen to men talk women's sports,
but he said, no matter what you think, and I
put this in my rivalry doc that Tarika was in.

(47:27):
The rivalry is such a good thing, and they're missing
out on the rivalry that could be between Yukon and
SC at South Carolina and I think that or I
feel like it could be USC maybe. And you talk
about Juju taking on page like, I wonder if that
storyline needs to be played up more, even though it's

(47:48):
not a storyline so that there's more interest. Do you
see what I'm saying? Angel Reese really provided her being
quote unquote in theory, the villain really gave them what
they needed to mean, Kaitln was great, but we needed
something else. We need it, We needed to be up here.

Speaker 2 (48:02):
So what I would say to that is, I think
that the best rivalries are the ones that continue to
exist even when you don't have to force it. Because
that Caitlin Clark and Angel Rhees's rivalry, it still exists.
It's just in the w now as it relates to
women's college basketball. One thing that I've always noticed and
then Sheryl, you can I mean you played on the
college level. I knew I was done after high school.

(48:24):
College was not going to be for me. So I
don't have this experience, but it feels like what I
love about college rivalries is that no matter who plays there,
no matter how long, like UCLA is always gonna hate USC.
It don't matter if Reggie's there, it don't matter, If
Lisa is there, it don't matter, if it don't matter
if Cheryl Miller's there. USC and UCLA are Michigan and

(48:45):
Michigan State will always hate each other.

Speaker 3 (48:47):
It don't matter.

Speaker 2 (48:47):
I don't care who played there. I don't even need
to know the players. If you were amazing Blue, I
don't fuck with you. And now I feel like at
one point in time that was Yukon and Tennessee. It
was like it didn't matter where it was, what was
going on, like the it didn't have to have a
player name attachment. So I say all that to say
that I feel like organic school rivalries are building and

(49:08):
half built. I think that South Carolina and Yukon, especially
if they if they reach you know again, this year,
could definitely be that kind of rivalry. USC continuing to
stay and if you and if Lauren Betts comes back
next year she's alluded to that continue that crosstown rivalry
is something that continues to grow. I don't think rivalries
are sustainable when it is.

Speaker 4 (49:29):
Just based upon people.

Speaker 2 (49:32):
They need to school, they need to be based on
We need to make these two schools, these teams face
each other so much and so good to where they
start to feel away about it because people come and go.
We see that in the men's game. In the men's game,
Duke and North Carolina gonna forever be right, it don't
matter we're playing there. It's forever, it's gonna it's gonna

(49:54):
let it's gonna be primetime every single time. That Championships
Classic is always gonna be Kansas can touch Michigan.

Speaker 3 (50:00):
State and Duke.

Speaker 2 (50:01):
It ain't gonna never change because those schools are always
and it's always gonna bring eyes and attention. The women's
game have yet to have that one, not since Yukon
in Tennessee. I agree, they have not had that one
school where you just like, I don't care who planned
if these two teams matching up, it might be naw.

Speaker 3 (50:18):
I totally agree with you on that.

Speaker 1 (50:20):
I have a different perspective as well when you talk
about rivalries, like I didn't think Angel and Caitlyn.

Speaker 3 (50:27):
Was a rivalry per se.

Speaker 1 (50:31):
Honestly, I thought this was you have this really really,
really really good white player and you have this really
really really really good black player. And because of that,
I think people were like, well, I gotta pick one
or the other. I gotta rock with Caitland or I

(50:51):
gotta rock with Angel, Because to me, a lot of
the stuff that people talked about it didn't really have
anything to do with with the two of them play
basketball because they didn't wart each other like Caitlyn is
in her own world. Caitlyn plays a certain way, she
plays a certain position, she does the thing she does,

(51:11):
and Angel does the thing she does right, So like
both of these players can be really good. I think
people try to make it a rivalry because that was
exciting for the game.

Speaker 4 (51:23):
I will say this, I loved it.

Speaker 1 (51:25):
Whether you considered it a rivalry or not, I loved
it because people were talking about the women's game. Yep,
they were talking about Angel, they were talking about Kaitlyn,
but you ended up talking about the WNBA.

Speaker 3 (51:36):
You ended up talking about the game.

Speaker 1 (51:38):
I think a lot of times when people think about
women's basketball, women's sports in general, but in particular women's basketball,
they want us to all be like Kumbaya. Oh they
all like each other, they're oh they're all best friends.

Speaker 6 (51:51):
Oh they don't.

Speaker 3 (51:52):
Curse, they don't swear, they don't play hard, they don't
foul bullshit, Like we've always play that way.

Speaker 1 (52:01):
And you know what, I'm okay if you don't like
me when we even if you do like me when
we step on that court, I'm coming for your head
every single time.

Speaker 3 (52:10):
And when the game's al say if we you know,
we friends. When the game's over, we're cool.

Speaker 1 (52:14):
We can go have drinks, we can go talk, we
can go talk about how I just gave you forty
and how you thought you was going to hold me.

Speaker 3 (52:21):
The twenty five.

Speaker 1 (52:23):
But so tonight, I do think it's really, really, really
good for the game.

Speaker 3 (52:30):
But I also think we're at a place right now.

Speaker 1 (52:33):
Whether that's because of Caitlin Angel, the whole rookie class
last year, but also the Asia Wilson's.

Speaker 3 (52:40):
The Diana Tunosses.

Speaker 1 (52:42):
Right, I think we're at a place right now though,
where women's basketball is in.

Speaker 3 (52:47):
A really good place. People are talking about it.

Speaker 1 (52:51):
I have people talking to me about it that didn't
even know the WNBA existed until this season. Right, And
I'll end on this because I said this is yesterday.
I know there's a new CBA coming up. I know
the players are like, listen, we want X, Y and Z. Rightfully,
So this is just my two cents. But I will
say this, if you don't get all those things that

(53:13):
you're asking for now, probably ain't the best time for
a lockout.

Speaker 6 (53:18):
Why would you say that because of.

Speaker 3 (53:20):
Where the game is right now?

Speaker 1 (53:22):
I just I don't think we're at a place where
we want to go down that roll.

Speaker 2 (53:28):
If you lose that momentum, it's no guarantee that you
will peel up right back up.

Speaker 6 (53:33):
Wow, what a tough space to be in because I
know players want to get more things, and you got
a generation of players and only a handful, but they're
used to getting what they want. You talking to the
likes of an Angel and a Caitlin and all these
other players that came in, they're used to fighting for
what they are well.

Speaker 4 (53:48):
As they should.

Speaker 1 (53:49):
So here's the thing, right, they should, And I do
think it's because of the Angels and the Caitlin's that
they probably will get a lot of the things they're
asking for.

Speaker 4 (53:58):
But here's the other thing I'll say, you also only have.

Speaker 1 (54:01):
Probably a handful of players that can afford to not
play to do that.

Speaker 3 (54:07):
Yeah, right, the opportunities are there.

Speaker 1 (54:10):
When I look at you know what, dear Mark, I
saw a Flage Experience commercial, I'm like, what the hell like?

Speaker 3 (54:16):
It's great?

Speaker 1 (54:17):
Where everything that I'm seeing that they're doing, that's happening
that these women deserve. This is where we always wanted
to see the league, right, all these opportunities that they're getting,
but you also have to be strategic.

Speaker 3 (54:35):
In what your plan is going to be.

Speaker 1 (54:37):
Right, you go to the table and you say we
want X, Y and Z, and if they come back
they're like, all right, we'll give you X and Z.
But why don't know so way your options? Is it
really worth you all saying we're we're not gonna play
because we want why Also, last thing I'll say, I
do feel with unrival and even with athletes, unlimit it right,

(55:01):
there are two other pro leagues that these women have
an opportunity to play in. Granted, UNR I've only had
thirty players, AU only had forty players, But because there
are other opportunities, that is going to put pressure on
the W.

Speaker 4 (55:15):
You took the words right out of my mouth, Shryl.

Speaker 2 (55:18):
I was literally getting ready to say when you were
done that, I don't think that it will even need
to get to a lockout because I think the W
isn't stupid. As much as people criticize them, They're not stupid,
and they understand the product that they have, and they
too understand that this is a momentum that they can
ill afford to lose.

Speaker 4 (55:37):
This is a time that they can ill afford to.

Speaker 2 (55:39):
They have an opportunity to put this league in a
different category, in a different financial status, and I don't
think that they would also be willing to waste that
over being stubborn. It has not worked in the years past,
it will not work moving forward. So I genuinely hope
that they are wise enough to understand that there is
a give and take, and as much as they the

(56:00):
players one DCI intake, they have to give a little
bit too. So I don't think it'll get to a
lockout personally.

Speaker 6 (56:07):
Okay, that's so smart. And by the way, all the
nuance to what's happening, I love that. I love the
idea of being like knowing yet unrivaled in these other
leagues exists. The w will have to understand that these
players do have more leverage than they need, and you're right,
only a handful of players show can actually be like
I'm out set.

Speaker 3 (56:23):
I'm straight fine.

Speaker 1 (56:25):
So that's why it's important, Carrie to have the right
people in the room when it comes to the negotiating,
because it can't just be about you right like, well,
this is what I want, because you're speaking for the
entire league.

Speaker 3 (56:39):
You're speaking for all.

Speaker 1 (56:40):
These women who who don't have these endorsement deals, who
don't have these opportunities, who might only be making seventy
five thousand dollars during the WNBA season.

Speaker 3 (56:50):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 2 (56:50):
Do you remember the movie one forty four, the documentary
with the players in the bubble during the pandemic, and yeah,
it's really good. One thing that always sticks out to
me is Courtney Williams. Courtney Williams was very vulnerable in there,
and when they showed the clips of them being at
the table amongst each other speaking, Courtney said, I don't
There was the question became whether or not they play

(57:12):
a specific game, And essentially in one four the players
were having a conversation whether or not to play a
specific game because there was a shooting in which Jacob
Blake was shot and the NBA, when they were in
their bubble, they decided they were not going to play,
And so the WNBA had to make a decision whether
or not they were not going to play. And here

(57:34):
you are in a season where there are more eyes
on your sport than any other eyes because we're in
a pandemic. Can't nobody going nowhere? They're playing in the summertime.
And on top of that, it's all about how you
make money. You make money based off how you play
and when you play. And so Courtney Williams was like, listen,
I'm not about not trying to play this game because

(57:58):
I can't afford yeah, not playing. I can't afford the
ramifications that could come from.

Speaker 4 (58:04):
Networks or whoever else.

Speaker 2 (58:06):
Don't want to show our games no more because we're
deciding not to play. And so there was conversation and
I respected Courtney Williams for that because it was very
clear that it wasn't necessarily because I feel that we.

Speaker 3 (58:18):
Shouldn't stand up for Jacob Blake.

Speaker 2 (58:20):
But the reality is I have to provide, and she
said this, it's my responsibility to provide from my family,
and I can provide from my family if you don't know,
checks come through, because the rest of y'all can afford
to provide for your family. Whether y'all get this check
or not, I ain't got that and have I never
had more respect for Courtney than I did at that

(58:40):
moment because she kept it real and she spoke for
so many other people who honestly feel that I wouldn't
speak up.

Speaker 4 (58:47):
But felt the same way.

Speaker 2 (58:48):
It's not about wanting to not stand up for this right,
but it's also about being realistic that I don't make
what y'all make. I can't afford to mischecks. And I
think that's a conversation that will happen amongst players, not
in front of the WNBA, but just amongst each other,
amongst peers when they consider if it ever gets to
this part a lockout where you have to be considerate

(59:08):
of your sister and everybody don't got it like you
got it.

Speaker 6 (59:11):
And by the way, that is a decision that has
to be made in every professional sport. That's why the
NFL finds them self fighting and people won't all protests
and people say that because they're players who make no money.
And then there are players who make a lot of money.
There is and for us, by our stand and to
say I'll make a lot of money, right, But you're
talking about somebody who might do a league minimum at
five hundred versus somebody who has one hundred million dollar deal.
They approach the game differently, so it makes sense. It

(59:34):
totally does. Wow, you can't tell us education. I hope
they don't lock out there tro because we don't want
to lock out.

Speaker 3 (59:39):
We don't know it.

Speaker 1 (59:41):
Just listen the momentum, the momentum that we have right
now is, to be honest with you, there are times
where I'm like, damn, this is really happening in the
WNBA for the w players. And so that's why I'm like,
it's you know what, maybe in five years, if we're
back here having this conversation, I might feel differently, But

(01:00:03):
just the viewership, the attendance, the I don't even care
if it was bad publicity. You're talking about the w
n B A right. We just don't want to get
to a point where we're like, all right, we're not
gonna play this season and all of that momentum, Like.

Speaker 2 (01:00:22):
Yeah, and selfishly, I don't want y'all to lock out either,
because ship, that's my paycheck.

Speaker 1 (01:00:28):
What you mean, no s got to cover this sport?
What how do you keep me on payroll? And I
ain't got don't you mess.

Speaker 2 (01:00:39):
Want forty four? We didn't always going to be more
than more. We didn't edit three team.

Speaker 6 (01:00:46):
Anyway.

Speaker 2 (01:00:46):
Carroll mathing that I didn't know. I was my degree
in political science, not math.

Speaker 3 (01:00:53):
I was.

Speaker 1 (01:00:53):
I was just adding, well, I was just adding the
valkyries for this CMG.

Speaker 4 (01:00:57):
Carrie, we appreciate you so much.

Speaker 6 (01:00:59):
I appreciate you. I can sit here all night and
talk to y'all. Y'all just gave me a full education.
I appreciate it. Thank you like me, and I love
what we did, how we did it all. We put
the intersection of all of it together. We did a monolith.
We know all things, and so I appreciate.

Speaker 4 (01:01:13):
That as so madly.

Speaker 1 (01:01:16):
We love you, Carrie, We love you to pieces.

Speaker 2 (01:01:28):
Cholo was a great conversation with Carrie. I love just
chatting with her and talking to her, and I really
love how we were able to just kind of switch
that up real quick, like we went straight from politics
to sports, and like that's the versatility of women, Like
we could just do whatever.

Speaker 1 (01:01:42):
You can't just put us in a box and say
stay inside this box, because we gonna be inside the box,
outside the box. Yeah, And you know, I've always had
respect for Carrie, even from her ESPN days, right just yes,
to see a black woman in that space doing what
she did then doing what she continues to do.

Speaker 3 (01:02:04):
And I love her on CNN being able to talk.

Speaker 1 (01:02:08):
Politics with I guess you could say with some of
the best or are they really I don't know, but yeah,
it's just good. And then to go to sports, which
is what we all love. But Carrie, Carrie has been
so steady in this lane and in this space and
just so grateful we were able to get her on
the show today.

Speaker 2 (01:02:27):
Yeah, likewise, we've been wanting to talk to Carrie for
a while. You can really talk to Carrie about anything.

Speaker 3 (01:02:32):
So love that. Thank you, Carrie, Thank you for coming Carrie.

Speaker 2 (01:02:36):
And with that, make sure you guys are checking out
her podcast on Naked Sports. But also, yeah, it's time
for us to level up. And so what you got
for sure?

Speaker 3 (01:02:45):
This quote, I actually have the person Roman Price.

Speaker 1 (01:02:49):
Don't know who that is, but I just thought it
was really good, you know, Tee and I always have
to give a.

Speaker 3 (01:02:54):
Little backstory as to why I chose this one.

Speaker 1 (01:02:57):
And I chose this one because I always hope that
it leaves our listeners with something. But you know how
we're always trying to find someone who can change our
lives or figure out what's next and all those things. Yeah,
this quote says, if you're still looking for that one
person who will change your life, take a look in

(01:03:20):
the mirror.

Speaker 3 (01:03:21):
All ludge it.

Speaker 4 (01:03:25):
Ludshit. Look at yourself.

Speaker 3 (01:03:27):
Just look at yourself every single day. You know, it's crazy.

Speaker 1 (01:03:30):
There are mornings when I do get up and I
look in the mirror, as we all do, I'm sure,
and there are things that I don't like. But then
I look at myself in the mirror and I say, well,
if you don't like these things.

Speaker 3 (01:03:41):
Change them.

Speaker 1 (01:03:42):
Yeah, and stop waiting on someone else to do that
for you. You make it happen.

Speaker 2 (01:03:46):
I am going to have an update about that very
thing on our show next week. So let's I love
when you do that.

Speaker 3 (01:03:56):
That's a good tease. I'm going to have an update
about that next week.

Speaker 2 (01:03:59):
So guys, y'all, make sure y'all tune in to next
week's episode if you want to know what my update
is about that very thing, changing something about yourself.

Speaker 4 (01:04:09):
So thanks guys for listening.

Speaker 2 (01:04:11):
We will be back next week with more conversations, just
simply about the real shit that we all go through
as women. Remember that this isn't our show, it's our show.

Speaker 3 (01:04:20):
So we want to hear from you.

Speaker 2 (01:04:21):
Leave us a review in Apple Podcasts, or email us
that levels to this podcast at gmail dot com. Tell
us what you thought of this week's show and what
you might want to talk about next. We love hearing ideas.
You can also follow us on Instagram at lttpod So
until then, keep your mentals ground level and we will be.

Speaker 4 (01:04:38):
Back next week.

Speaker 1 (01:04:39):
Peas duy, Thanks and listen to Levels to This on
America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart
app and search Levels to This with Cheryl Swoops and
Tarika Foster Brasby and start listening