Final week WNBA playoff scenarios and an UKG NWSL Challenge Cup preview

In Episode 8 of the Power Plays Podcast, host Lindsay Gibbs is joined by Jessie Breggren to discuss this week in women's sports, including a  groundbreaking LPGA victory of by 19-year-old Thai qualifier, Chanettee Wannasaen ; a chaotic NWSL weekend full of red cards; the biggest week 1 stories from the U.S. Open; and an update on the possible WTA/Saudi Arabia partnership.

Then (12:00), Maggie Hendricks joins us to scrutinize the last week of the WNBA season. We look at the battle for the No. 1 seed between the New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces, then dive deep into the many scenarios remaining for the No. 4-No. 8 seeds. There is so much at stake, and this podcast will prepare for it all.

Finally, Courtney Stith (45:07) joins to preview the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup finals. On Wednesday, we'll have the semifinals -- NC Courage vs. KC Current and the OL Reign vs. Racing Louisville, followed by the final on Saturday. There's a $1.1 million prize pool on the line, but how much will the teams prioritize this event?

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the Power Plays
podcast, your weekly home forall the women's sports news that
you could ever want for a needin your life.
I am your host, lindsay Gibbs,and I am checking the stream to
make sure my lipstick doesn'tget on my teeth, because it
seems to keep doing that.

(00:40):
Anyways, we're doing great.
This Tuesday morning I amjoined by Jesse Bergen, the
assistant here at Power Plays,who's going to go over the
weekly results with me.
Hi, jesse, hello, how are youdoing?
I'm doing super good, becauseyou've got a great episode today
.
We've got two returning guestsfor the first time.
Maggie Hendricks is going tojoin us to talk all about this

(01:02):
final week of the WNBA and thepush for the playoffs, so you're
not going to want to miss that.
And then Courtney Stiff ofDiaspora United comes on to talk
about the Challenge Cup,because we've got the Challenge
Cup playoffs this week in theNWSL.
So you know, when I firstenvisioned the podcast, this is
kind of what I would envisiongetting into the nitty gritty of

(01:25):
the women's sports calendar,with experts on the subject.
So I think this is going to befun, but first we want to review
some of the results that we'renot going to have time for on
the rest of the show and I wantto start that out with LPGA,
because there was the best storyon the LPGA this week.

(01:46):
Okay, you ready for this?
Yeah, I didn't hear about this,so write it.
So Shannette Wanison and I hopeI'm saying that right Shannette
Wanison, a 19-year-old qualifierfrom Thailand.
She was a Monday qualifier.
She had a qualifier to get intothis Portland classic, this

(02:06):
tournament this week.
She won by four strokes and shecame into the final day of play
tied for second place and thenget this.
So she was started off insecond place.
She's never even come close towinning an LPGA title before she
started off with birdies thethird hole in the fourth hole,

(02:29):
she eagled the fifth and thenshe got birdies of the sixth and
the seventh.
So she went six under over fiveholes to leap out to the lead
and never relented it the restof the day.
She's just the third qualifierever to win an event on the LPGA
tour, so we just love that.

(02:49):
That's amazing.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
Wow, what a run.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
It's just like incredible.
She shattered the tournamentscoring record by five strokes,
which is just a ridiculous likerecords don't get shattered by
five strokes and gone Likethat's ridiculous.
So it was really cool.
I also love that.
I love seeing women caddies outthere on the LPGA tour because
there aren't that many and hertour is of her caddy as a woman

(03:16):
and she's a former golf pro fromThailand and they were just
like laughing.
The caddy was doing such a goodjob of keeping her calm out
there and I don't know I just wereally love to see women
caddies out there.
So, congratulations to Chanel.
We are going to talk about thechallenge cup in the segment

(03:38):
with Courtney, but we're notgoing to talk a lot about the
results this weekend in the WSL.
So do you want to get uscovered there, Jesse?
What happened this weekend?

Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yeah, so I'll just run down the scores really quick
because there was a lot ofaction.
So Angel City beat Kansas City1-0.
North Carolina tied New YorkNew Jersey three to three, which
sounded like a crazy game itwas a ridiculously dumb game.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
It was just it was drunk on NWSL vibes Perfect
Extremely.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
I love it.
And then Louisville beatPortland 2-1.
So that was a big game.
Chicago beat Washington 2-0.
And then OL Rain beat Orlando1-0, which was kind of a
surprising result consideringthat Orlando played the entire
game basically with 10 players.
What Can you please explain?

Speaker 1 (04:29):
that I will.

Speaker 2 (04:31):
Their goalkeeper got a red card in the third minute,
which I believe they said wasthe fastest red card in WSL
history.
It has to be yeah.
So she took out one of the rainplayers was going in on goal
like kind of beat her and sheaccidentally took her out, so
straight red.
So she's off.

(04:51):
So they're playing with 10players and their backup keeper
for the entire game.
Ol Rain had a bunch of chances,only scored once.
So that was kind of impressiveactually.
And then the next game, thefinal game San Diego Houston.
Houston also got a red card inthe 33rd minute for the same
thing, a straight red, fordenial of a goal scoring

(05:14):
opportunity.
The defender kind of took out aplayer going into a goal.
Oh my God, yeah.
So San Diego won 1-0.
Also kind of impressive,considering they were up a
player for two thirds of thatgame and their goal was by Jaden
Shaw.
She's one of these teenagephenoms who had a great, great

(05:36):
goal and they had a bunch ofchances.
Houston cleared several chancesoff the line, so it could have
been a lot more, but it was only1-0 for San Diego.
But both those games were kindof nuts.
I watched them both and waslike what is happening?

Speaker 1 (05:48):
It was a red card city Once again in WSL is just
drunk like all the time, Likeit's incredible.

Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (05:57):
It's definitely.
I love it so much yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:00):
It was fun and then so, because of all those results
, the standings completely, theyall, they shifted completely.
So now our top six are SanDiego, at the top, followed by
Portland, north Carolina,o'belleraine, new York, new
Jersey, in Washington.
But those six are only nowseparated by four points, so
it's even tighter, and the sevenand eight seats, I think, are

(06:23):
two points behind the six seats,so it's truly, yeah, really
wide open.
Anything could change in thislast month or so, so it's
exciting.

Speaker 1 (06:33):
It's.
I'm obsessed, I'm justabsolutely obsessed with it.
Wnba we're going to go over allthe WNBA news and results that
you could ever want when theconversation with Maggie.
So we're going to save that andthat'll be the very next
segment you hear.
But I did want to talk a littletennis.
We don't have any winners toshout out because we're in the

(06:53):
middle of the US Open, but ithas been a crazy tournament so
far.
So the biggest headline news isthat Ega Shuadtec is out to
Elena Osta-Penko and that meansthat Ega is no longer world
number one At the end of thistournament.
We know that Irina Sabalenkawill be I believe I heard the

(07:15):
29th ever number one player onthe WTA Tour.
So that's really big news.
I picked Irina to win thetournament, so you know feeling
good about that.
Coco Gough is the other.
A lot of people picked her andshe's still in the tournament.
I don't want to talk too muchabout her because she's going to
play her quarterfinal againstOsta-Penko at about the time we

(07:39):
published this episode, so itcould be out to date pretty
quickly.
But just some other notes.
I want to shout out MadisonKeys absolutely crushed Jess
Pugula, who you know continuesto struggle in the second week
of slams, but is always in thesecond week of slams.

(07:59):
So pick your poison.
But Madison Keys looks like sheis her best self and that's
scary news to the rest of thefield.
A few other great stories inthe first week Peyton Stearns
and CAA Champ made it all theway to the fourth round.
She is un-sponsored, sosponsors, get on that please.
It was really great to see JenBrady's continued comeback, as

(08:22):
well as Carolyn Wozniacki'scomeback.
And yeah, I think it's justbeen.
I've just been glued to thetennis, honestly, just non-stop.
Have you watched any?

Speaker 2 (08:31):
Oh yeah, I watched a bunch over the weekend.
It was really fun.
I watched whatever's on.
I ended up seeing a lot ofCoco's matches, actually over
the last couple of weeks.
I can't not watch her.
She's so fun.
She seems like such adelightful person.
I just really like her.

Speaker 1 (08:46):
How is she 19 and just has more charisma than,
like, any adult I've ever known.
I know it's wild.

Speaker 2 (08:54):
She's fun.
I hope her run continuesbecause I love watching her and
hearing her.
Even her like post-gameinterviews are entertaining.
I love it.
They're delightful.

Speaker 1 (09:02):
And she shushes her coaches, which we just love to
see, I know.
She, just she tells these grownmen to shut up that she's doing
her thing, yeah, and I lovethat.
I will always love that.
I did want to give a quickupdate, so this is an evolving
story, but last week we had JohnWorthyme on the podcast to
discuss where the WTA finals aregoing to be, and if you haven't

(09:23):
listened to that interview,honestly it's I think it's the
best one we've done in thispodcast so far.
I just see so much insiderknowledge.
It's really fascinating.
But I did want to update.
So At the time we recorded thatit really did seem like Saudi
Arabia was in the lead to scorethe WTA championships In about
two months and it seemed likethis WTA and Saudi partnership

(09:47):
was inevitable.
But it seems like behind closeddoors this week, things have
shifted and that now Prague isin the lead, or the Czech
Republic in general is in thelead to get the WTA finals, and
they seem confident thatBelarusian and Russian players
will be allowed to enter intoPrague or into the Czech

(10:11):
Republic and their visas will beapproved, which is a big deal,
because Arina Sabalinka, who Ijust mentioned is the world
number one, is from Belarus.
So it would be really weird tohave a WTA.
Whatever your beliefs onwhether Russian and Belarusian
players should be allowed tocompete like they are allowed to
compete.
So it would be really weird tohave a year in where your number

(10:33):
one couldn't get into thecountry, like that would just
not be ideal.
So anyways, there's just somuch happening there.
But amongst the midst at allthe WTA and the ATP, I've
scheduled some meetings andthere's possible tour merger
talk, which is something I willdefinitely be covering on Power
Place, because I have a lot ofthoughts about.

(10:54):
I don't think it's anythingimminent because it's going to
be very, very complicated, butit seems like now.
The thought is that instead ofpartnering with Saudi, who
they're afraid are going to makea rival tennis tour, they're
hoping to join forces betweenthe ATP and the WTA to fight
against the Saudi involvement inthe sport.

Speaker 2 (11:17):
So Wow, this is like a movie.
This is wild.

Speaker 1 (11:23):
The off court stuff.
We need someone from theboardroom to continue leaking,
because this is just.
This is too much.
But anyways, we'll just want to.
I don't usually update you onthe news and politics at the top
of.
We should try to stick toscores, because we think
sometimes it's important stickto the scores, but sometimes you
just got to go off script alittle bit and, considering the

(11:45):
conversation with John Worthamlast week, I just really wanted
to give you the latest there.
So who?
Lots, lots of going on.
Shall we get to the rest of thepodcast.

Speaker 2 (11:57):
Yeah, yeah, let's hear from them.

Speaker 1 (12:04):
Hello, hello, hello, lindsay, I am back here.
I am Lindsay.
I'm not calling you all Lindsay, I am Lindsay and I'm back here
, and joining me is theincomparable Maggie Hendricks.
Maggie, thanks so much forbeing on the Power Plays podcast
for the second time.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
I feel special, like maybe like the third time I'll
get a set of steak knives.
Maybe I don't need steak knives.

Speaker 1 (12:26):
All right, jesse, our producer, can you write that
down, that we need to get Maggiesome steak knives or something
like that?
Okay, all right, we'll get onthat.
You know we do take requestswhile I follow instructions.
Well, and you know I liked thatpeople come back.
Anyways, our first orderbusiness is to hire Maggie

(12:47):
because she's no longer withValley Sports and you should
want to hire her immediately tocover WNBA Olympics any.
All the things.

Speaker 3 (13:00):
Oh, I mean, those are my favorite things, but I can
cover any of the things.

Speaker 1 (13:04):
But let's do the favorite things WNBA and
Olympics.

Speaker 3 (13:08):
WNBA and Olympics is my, is my.
Those are my favorite things inthe world and they make me
happy.

Speaker 1 (13:12):
So well, we want Maggie to be happy, so that's
very important.
So I'm going to try and centermyself a little bit.
I feel like I'm way off centerhere.
I know that my computer is liketilted, but I also kind of like
it, so we're going to go with it, but now I'm centered and we're
just going to keep going.
So it's one week until the WNBAplayoff start.

(13:33):
Basically, they start September13.
The last day of the regularseason is this Sunday, so we've
got lots of scenarios.
Are you ready to talk playoffscenarios?
That's what we're going to bedoing in this segment.
We're going to be talking aboutseeds and who's going to make
the playoffs and what this finalweek is going to look like.
There's going to be math and Iapologize in advance.

Speaker 3 (13:56):
Okay, well, as long as we like know the math going
in and the math doesn't involvelike quadratic equations.

Speaker 1 (14:04):
We'll see, we'll see All right.
So let's start with, like theeasiest quote, unquote easiest.
The things that we know arethat the aces and liberty will
be the top two seeds.
I'm going to read you thescenario from Vegas PR.
I copied and pasted thisdirectly from an email.
So Vegas controls its owndestiny.
Vegas has two games left.

(14:24):
If Vegas wins those games, nomatter what the liberty do,
vegas will be the number oneseed.
But should the Vegas lose onegame and New York run the table,
which would mean both teamswere at 33 and seven here are
the tie break scenarios.

(14:45):
If this is so confusing, butit's kind of funny to me that
this is like the simple scenario.
Okay.
So once again, this is if aceslose a game and New York runs
the table, connecticut andDallas.
If Connecticut and Dallas areat or above 500, new York is the
one seed.
If Connecticut, dallas andMinnesota are at or above 500,

(15:10):
vegas is the one seed.
If Connecticut, dallas, atlantaare at or above 500, new York
is the one seed.
And if Connecticut, dallas,atlanta and Minnesota are at or
above 500, vegas is the one seed.
The short but sweet version isbasically they need many at the

(15:30):
Minnesota to be a part of a tiebreak scenario, so I don't
really understand any of that.
It's very confusing.

Speaker 3 (15:36):
Did you understand that, maggie?
No, no, we're off to such agood start here.
The thing about it is that,like there's always at least one
person on Twitter who reallyunderstands these things and can
explain them to us.

Speaker 1 (15:52):
So but I would say the part I do understand is that
the aces control their owndestiny, that if they win, they
are out and the liberty wouldhave to run the table.
I believe for the aces to.
If aces lose a game, libertywould still have to run the
table.
The sun are all but locked intothe three seed.

(16:15):
Okay, and then now's where weget really fun, because we don't
know what's happening.
The Dallas wings are 2017.
They had a chance to clinch thenumber four seed, but got
steamrolled in overtime againstthe Indiana fever on Sunday,
which was really weird.
Like the fever had nothing toplay for, dallas had the number

(16:38):
four seed, so eight teams makeit to the playoffs.
The number four seed means youget home court advantage in the
first round, which is a big deal.
It's only a best of threeseries, so you really want that
home court advantage, and sojust for them to lose in
overtime.
Maggie, you watch this gameright.
What happened?

Speaker 3 (16:55):
You know it seemed like a lot of bad tendencies
that Dallas has actually workedreally hard to get rid of.
Came back, you know, when thechips were down, when it was a
really close game.
We saw Arique hold onto theball too much and get and spend
too much time arguing with refs.
Not enough passing, not enoughlike just team play and Indiana.

(17:16):
It's so funny because I justwatched just before that the Sky
game.
The sky were playing theLiberty.
The sky are fighting for we'regoing to get to it.
I know sky were fighting for aplayoff spot.
They didn't look urgent at all.
The fever looked like they wereplaying for dinner, so like I
mean the fever just looked.

Speaker 1 (17:36):
The end of the season is so confusing it is.

Speaker 3 (17:39):
And they, but they looked so hungry out there and
it says a lot about the culturethat's been built in Indiana and
how they've changed thingsaround, because that team looked
like they were you were tryingto win the championship.
It was insane.

Speaker 1 (17:53):
Yeah, erike got a lot of flak for that game and for
the way it ended up.
I think there's concern thatthere's a little bit of lack of
accountability going on inDallas.
It seems like their culture hasbeen good all season, but I
don't know if, just like whenyou're under the most pressure,

(18:13):
if that's when your worsttendencies come out, it's kind
of a sign of immaturity a littlebit.
Nikaius Duncan did a greatthread on the Dallas wings,
which I will link in the shownotes, and really kind of
exposed how bad their defensehas been over the last 12 games
and in particular, how Erike isjust not running back to get on

(18:35):
defense.
She's not hustling when itcomes to defense and it's
putting the whole team in areally bad position.
At the same time she isaveraging 37 minutes per game,
so she's got to be exhausted.
If there's been anything withDallas it's been confusing to me
this year it's been how shorttheir rotation has been when
they've got a pretty deep bench.

(18:56):
So I think that might be comingback to bite them a little bit
as well.
When you get fatigued, yourworst tendencies come out as
well.

Speaker 3 (19:06):
Yeah, I mean, that's honestly what it looked like it
was.
She did look very tired, it wasan overtime game and she played
a ton of it, so I get that.
But also then there needs to besome like what are the coaches
saying to her?
What are her teammates sayingto her?
There needs to be when youscrew up, you should have people

(19:27):
around you to say, hey, that'snot okay.
I mean you and I need that,everybody needs that.

Speaker 1 (19:34):
Oh yeah, please.
I need people in my life totell me.

Speaker 3 (19:37):
Right.

Speaker 1 (19:37):
I mean that's love, that's support, that's really
wanting success and you know, Idon't know.
I hope that they get ittogether.
I mean, they still they'reahead.
They I think they've got a gameand a half up on the links who
are in the number five positionright now.
But they've got a toughschedule.

(19:59):
They're at the Liberty onTuesday, which, as we've
mentioned, the Liberty are stillplaying for that number one
seed.
So the Liberty are not going tobe taken this week off Friday.
They're no, they're not at theLiberty, sorry, they're home
versus the Liberty on Tuesday.
They're home versus the stormon Friday, and then Sunday
they're at the dream who mightvery well be fighting for a

(20:21):
playoff seed as well.
So that's not a very easyschedule.
But let's go down to Minnesota,which is the only team that has
a chance to overcome them.
Minnesota started this season ohand six and they are now 19 and
19.
They're only the second WNBAteam in history to start the
season.
Oh and six are worse and clincha playoff birth, and they're

(20:45):
not just like barely clenching aplayoff birth there.
They have an outside shot to bethe number five four seed and
it seems like they're definitelygoing to at least be the five
seed.
So really, kudos to Minnesota.
I think it's gone very under theradar what they've put together
this season and I know I kindof didn't pay attention enough

(21:07):
to it.
Probably they clinched, theyare, they're officially in the
playoffs.
They're the only five teams ofa clinch have officially
clinched playoff.
First, minnesota is a fifth,they're 19 and 19 right now.
They beat up on the Mercury onSunday and they've only got two
games this week, so it's anotherthing that helps a lot of most
teams have three games this week.
They only have to both on theroad, friday in Chicago and then

(21:32):
Sunday in Indiana, so not astough of a final week schedule
as a lot of teams have.
What is impressed you aboutwhat the links have done this
season and what worries do youstill see what?
Why?
Why would you be worried?
Why would you be excited aboutthem going to playoffs and why

(21:52):
would you be worried about them?

Speaker 3 (21:54):
Well, I think they've done, first of all, an amazing
job with their rookies.
I mean, we all knew thatDiamond Miller was going to be
special, but I don't think Idon't think I was expecting her
to make this kind of an impactthis quickly, and I definitely
wasn't expecting that out ofDorca Uhaas.
Like Dorca Uhaas was like afterthere were injuries to Jessica
Shepard or Jeff to JessicaShepard you had an illness.

(22:14):
It was like, okay, Dorca,you're starting.
So welcome to the league.
And she did it and she did itwell.
And so now, because of that,they have some good depth in at
center.
They have some good.
I mean, obviously Nafisa isgoing to be Nafisa, but even we
saw those games a couple weeksago when Nafisa was out, they

(22:35):
still beat the Liberty and beatthe sun on the road.
So they showed that they havethe ability like Caleb McBride
really has the ability toelevate the team.
And then you know, I mean theyjust have, they have players who
really care about each otherand care about winning, and that
is a tough thing to overcomefor other teams.

(22:56):
But on the on the things thatmake me nervous, yeah, I mean
some of their rotations don'tmake sense as far as like who,
we're staying calm in the game.
Sometimes it drives me insaneand there when you get to the
playoffs in experience can rareits ugly head in some of the
worst ways.
And when you have player likewhen you have two of your key

(23:19):
players are rookies and thisteam, this particular links team
, hasn't been tested in theplayoffs the way previous links
teams have.
So they also like as a group.
They don't have that.
We've been through the playoffsthing that other teams that
they will face have.

Speaker 1 (23:38):
Yeah, Just a note on Nefisa she in their win against
the Mercury, which cleans theirplayoff spot, she had 22 points,
16 rebounds, five assists inthree blocks and 33 minutes.
It was her second straight20.15 rebound game and she also.

(24:00):
It was also her second 20.15rebound three block game and
she's the first player in inWNBA history to have two such
games back to back, because inthe previous game she had 27.17
rebounds and four blocks.
So she's playing well.

(24:21):
I have a question.
I know you've paid attention tothe links this season.
What's going on with aerialpowers?

Speaker 3 (24:30):
You know what?
I wish I knew more.
That is one thing that I havealso wondered.
Yeah, she has dealt with a lotof injuries, not just season but
over her career, and perhapsshe's just not playing in a way
that show her things.
She should be on the court asmuch.
I mean.
I really it's one of thosethings that, like Ariel's being,

(24:53):
it seems like very fairly quietabout it, which I give her
credit for she's being she's notreally.

Speaker 1 (24:58):
I mean she's tweeted that she wants out of Minnesota.
She's going to be on adifferent team next year.

Speaker 3 (25:04):
Like she let me put it this way she's not being a
jerk about it on the court.
You know, like we've been thattoo, we've been listening to
that she's still doing doing herjob and doing a festive scan.
So yeah, I don't blame her forwanting to be out of Minnesota
because she was a starter.
She was, or like number one offthe bench for much of her time

(25:26):
there, and now this year she'sbarely playing.
It's odd, but also it's not.
We've seen Sheryl Reeve do thatbefore.

Speaker 1 (25:35):
Yeah, we've seen Sheryl Reeve do that before and
I also think I love Ariel Powers.
I loved covering her in DC.
She's a great bench player.
She's like your ideal benchplayer.
I don't think she's a starter.
I don't think she's a starter.
I think she can fool peopleinto thinking she's a starter
because she's that good of abench player.
But she's a bench player on agood team.

(25:56):
On a good team.
She's your ideal hustle playercoming off the bench.
On a middling team she's notwho you want running your
offense.
That's fair.
Another thing to note isLindsay Allen has a thumb injury
.
She's been there starting pointguard and she's been really
good for them this season.
Like I did not see this LindsayAllen renaissance coming by any

(26:18):
stretch of the imagination,they're not ruling her out for
this season.
It doesn't seem like, but itdoesn't look good.
She's got a cast.

Speaker 3 (26:26):
Yeah, what I believe the report that came through
yesterday was that they arecontinuing, that they're not
going surgical, they're going tocontinue to work on rehab and
then update us in 10 days Ithink it was 10 days from today.
They could be out of theplayoffs.
That's a playoff she could beor she could not.
I think they're going to try tokeep her around and do what

(26:50):
they can and not just say she'sbeen so good.

Speaker 1 (26:55):
That's one of the surprises of the season, for me
for sure.
Let's move on to, and evenjuice your conversation on, the
four or five, which is the teamsthat look in place for the six
and the seven seeds.
That is the Atlanta dream andthe Washington Mystics, who were
tied with 17 and 20 records.
But Atlanta has the edge.

(27:15):
I believe that's mainly becauseof the conference record,
though it could be head to headas well.
Either way, atlanta definitelyhas the edge based off of a
conference record, and that'snot something I don't think the
Mystics can make up the dreamsschedule this week.
Wednesday they have the stormin town.

(27:36):
Friday they are at the MysticsCircle.
That game, everybody.
If you're talking about bigtime regular season games,
friday, dream at Mysticsblockbuster.
Then Sunday they've got thewings.
Who might not be playing foranything at that point?

(27:56):
The Mystics, similarly Tuesdaythey're still on the road.
They haven't been good on theroad this season, but they are
at the Mercury.
If you have to be on the road,that's where you want to be
right now.
Then Friday they're hosting thedream and that big game.
Then Sunday they're at New York.
Who might not have anything toplay for We'll have to see.

(28:17):
This is pretty blockbuster.
There's a lot of thingsunderscoring this.
Number one is the difference iseither facing the New York
Liberty probably, let's say, theLiberty are getting that two
seed right the Liberty or theaces.
If you're the seven seed,you're likely facing the Liberty

(28:39):
, maybe the aces, in the firstround.
If you're the six seed, you'refacing the Connecticut Sun in
the first round, the Sunner goodteam.
Don't get me wrong.
They would be favored in eithermatchup.
You would rather face them byfar than the Liberty or the aces
in the first round.
I realize that's insulting toConnecticut, but that just is

(29:01):
what it is.

Speaker 3 (29:03):
Connecticut's just going to say that's disrespect
and give them.
They're just going to addHashtag disrespect.

Speaker 1 (29:09):
Yeah, it is Disrespect, it's fine, I'm fine
with that.
They might feel favored.
They might feel favored.

Speaker 3 (29:15):
On an ad.
It's fine, it's fine.

Speaker 1 (29:17):
They just got crushed by the Liberty a few days ago.
That is what it is, anyways,another thing that I think is
underpinning this is there'sbeen some rumbling of upsetness.
Upset of people are questioningwhether Tibo GM Mike Tibo did

(29:41):
the right thing when hebasically passed on Ryan Howard
in the draft.
The Mystics had the number oneoverall pick in the 2022 draft
and he traded that to Atlanta tothe dream and ended up getting
the second overall pitch pickand got Shakira Austin.
Shakira Austin is a greatplayer, don't get me wrong.

(30:02):
Ryan Howard is an all-star, setup to be a perennial all-star,
and is a scoring machine.
The Mystics need scoring.
I'm sorry if you guys can hearthe train that's coming by my
building right now.
It just is what it is.
We're just going to powerthrough.
It's a part of.

(30:24):
I don't think you can look atthis matchup and look at where
they are and how they'refighting for the playoffs
without considering that, like Isaid, it's unfortunate.
Shakira Austin has been injuredmost of the season.
That's been the story of theMystics season.
It's part of it.
Fans are questioning whether ornot that was the right move.

Speaker 3 (30:43):
I think that's going to be one of those things that
gets questioned, no matter evenif they weren't close to it,
close to each other in theplayoffs, I think Mike Thiebaud
was expecting quite as manyinjuries.
I don't think anybody in theworld without a crystal ball
could have expected as manyinjuries to scores to everybody
as the Mystics have gone throughthis season and last season,

(31:06):
the Mystics kept having to dealwith unbelievable crap.
Let's be honest when we werelooking at the draft in 2022, we
all thought Ryan Howard wasgoing to be a good player.
I wasn't expecting who she'sbecome or who she's going to be.

Speaker 1 (31:25):
She surpassed expectations, I think.
I think Shakira Austinsurpassed expectations too,
albeit they were lower.
Everyone's saying guesseseverything, but I think it's a
legitimate question.
I think it's a legitimatequestion about whether he did
the right thing or not.
I think it's going to beovershadowing this game on

(31:48):
Friday for sure.
The Mystics finally so.
Alayna Deladon missed a lot oftime with a hip injury and then
an ankle injury, ariel Atkinsmissed a lot of time with an
ankle injury and Shakira Austinmissed a lot of time with a hip
injury.
That's three starters that theybasically didn't have for most

(32:08):
of July and August.
They finally got completelyhealthy last week.
She cured Austin, re-injuredher hip.
We don't know what that lookslike.
I hope it's just are-aggravation, but we haven't
gotten any official word on howlong she's going to be out.
And then Ariel Atkins got abroken nose elbow to the nose by

(32:30):
Asia Wilson, so she missed thislast game.
And then Chrissy Talver hadalso been out.
She's a bench player for themnow, but she'd been out with
plantar fasciitis, finallygotten healthy and then went
down with what looked like aterrible non-contact injury in
the game against the Sparks, oneof those injuries where the
whole arena goes silent.

(32:51):
This is on Sunday.
Whole arena goes silent.
All the players are crying.
I want to read Delvedon's quoteto Cream Copeland after the game
.
This is from Cream Copeland atthe Washington Post.
She said I'm not going to lie,emotionally I'm shocked.
You try to do the whole thingwhere you want to rally for her,
but we were sick, just sick.

(33:11):
What she's been through withher foot, how much she's worked
to get back.
She's talking about next yearand all those things.
Then, to see something likethis happen at this point of her
career, it just sucks.
She's such a great person, it'sbrutal.
And then Brittany Sykes Addle.
The shit broke our hearts.
So the Mystics were really notable to recover.
They lost to the Sparks in agame that could have put them in

(33:34):
the driver's seat for thisnumber six seed, maybe even the
number five seed, and nowthey're facing three must win
games here at the end of the endof the season.
Hopefully we get Atkins, maybea masked up, ariel Atkins back
and Shakira Austin back.

(33:55):
You need your starters, nomatter what they've got, to
figure out a way to get a lay inDeledon the ball they just have
to get.
You have to get a lay Deledonthe ball.
She has to get in the rhythm.
She doesn't get the ball enoughand then when she gets it she's
not in any rhythm.
But anyways, I follow theMystics closely and I think
there's lots of reasons to beconcerned.
But it's that game on Fridayversus the dream, especially if

(34:18):
they both win their gamesagainst the storm and the
mercury respectively during theweek.
That's going to be a game.

Speaker 3 (34:26):
Maggie.
That is going to be a huge game.
And something I just want tomention about Kristy Taliver is
she's a coach.
She's a coach in the NBA and soobviously she's their teammate,
but we all know what her voiceis to that team.
And I was not watching thatgame.
I was watching I think therewas another game happening at

(34:46):
the same time or that was late,I can't remember but the way my
Twitter lit up with people justbeing either grossed out, sad,
heartbroken, you know, I meanthose kind of injuries, just
they, just you don't see them asmuch in basketball as you do,
say, in football.
So like, when they happen, it'slike, oh, just the worst thing,

(35:07):
it just breaks my heart.

Speaker 1 (35:10):
And when you see one of your friends, I mean that
team, that core of that team.
They, you know.
I mean Taliver went back to theSparks a couple of years and
came back, but this is the corethat won the championship
together, right?
Heinz Allen and Atkins andDeladon and Natasha Cloud and
Taliver Like these, this corehas been together for so many

(35:32):
years.
Tiana Hawkins right, like theyknow each other so well, and so
it's.
You know, they're more thanteammates.
This is really like these arelong-term teammates.
You don't see this type ofconsistency that often.
Yeah, no, it's tough to see.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (35:50):
Yeah.
So I'm reading everything fromthat game.
I have to say I have to giveWNBA fans credit.
I feel like in men's sports yousee a lot more of like oh look
at this ugly injury and they'relike retweeted a bunch of times
and everything like that.
We don't do that shit and I'mand I remember the same thing
happened with when Mallory's PewSwanson, when she had her

(36:13):
injury there was, it was thesame thing.
I did not see the injury, whichis good.
I don't want to, but, like itmakes me proud of W, of women's
sports fans that were like, no,we're not going to take joy in a
woman that's going through.

Speaker 1 (36:28):
All right, our final two teams.
We need to talk about the finaltwo in playoff contention.
The Mercury Storm and Fever areall completely out of it.
So you've got the Sparks at 16and 21 and the Chicago Sky at 15
and 22.
So right now the Sparks, Ibelieve, have a half game lead,

(36:49):
when all things are considered,over the sky for the eighth and
final spot in the playoffs.
I do want to mention, thoughthere of course is an outside
chance that the Sparks could getas high as the number 16, right
, like, like.
They are only really one gamebehind the Mystics and the Dream
.
So I'm talking about these,we're talking about two teams,

(37:11):
two teams, two teams, becausethat's kind of how it's likely
pairing out right.
But we could see a biggershakeup than that, with some
surprising results this finalweek.
The Sparks did beat the Mysticson Sunday to put them in the
driver's seat.
For this final spot.
There's seven and three in thelast 10 games, which is tied for

(37:32):
second best in the W, rightbehind the Aces in the last 10
games.
They're tied with the Acesright behind the Liberty
Upcoming games, though all threeon the road.
This is one of the toughestfinal weeks of any team.
Tuesday they're at the Sun,which I guess I don't think the
Sun really have anything to playfor, so maybe that's the

(37:55):
benefit there.
But Tuesday they're at the Sun,thursday they're at the Liberty
and then Sunday they're at theStorm Taps.
Two, three on the road,including two playoff teams, is
definitely tough.
But another thing to notice, topay attention to, is Nekagumake
was a late scratch against theMystics due to knee pain.

(38:16):
It seems like she'll be day today.
She's averaging 19.9 points and8.9 rebounds, basically 20.9
boards.
This season.
She's having a transcendentseason.
So they really need her healthyfor the playoffs.
But it's really good they wereable to win without her.
Deirgarhambi filled in and hada double double and Leija
Clarendon, who we talked aboutlast time you were on the pod

(38:39):
and talked about a lot.
And Leija Clarendon, they arejust having a remarkable season
and it just continues.
The Sky you're in Chicago,maggie.
What are we seeing from the Sky, who are at 15 and 22?
They gave up, I believe, a 26to 8 run to the Liberty to close
their game on Sunday, not howyou want to close things off

(39:01):
when you're fighting for theplayoffs.

Speaker 3 (39:03):
No, their fourth quarter against the Liberty was
pretty much just.
I mean, hainas is the only oneI could come up with.
They couldn't score foranything because they were
winning.
I believe it was 61-60, with 8minutes left in the game, and
then I think they lost somethinglike 85-65.
Someday I can't remember theexact score, but they went a

(39:26):
very long time without scoring86-69.
Okay, they went a very longtime without scoring anything
and then, kind of like the wings, some of their worst tendencies
came out.
Courtney Williams when you seeher overthinking about where she
should pass the ball orshooting, that's a problem.
Courtney, like Courtney, playsfast.

(39:47):
She's an instinct player.

Speaker 1 (39:48):
She's an instinct player, yeah.

Speaker 3 (39:50):
And so in any time you see her struggling, that's
what you're seeing is she's nottrusting herself.
So saw some of that, saw someMarina Maybury being way too
concerned about the rest, sawKahlia having to do too much by
herself without help, elizabethWilliams getting into foul
trouble.
So there were a lot of badtendencies coming out, and I

(40:12):
just even though their scheduleis much easier, they're playing
the fever, the links and whowants that the Sun on Sunday?
The.

Speaker 1 (40:20):
Sun.
On Sunday, we'll definitelyhave nothing to play for.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (40:24):
By that game by Sunday.
I mean when you have one ofyour stars is 35 years old, you
sit hard.
Don't want to be sitting.

Speaker 1 (40:30):
But?
And the other one who doesn'thave any shoulders Right?

Speaker 3 (40:36):
And you're relaxed.
But you look at this guy'sschedule and you're like, oh
well, they've got the fever, whoare already out Sun's not to
play for.
The links are kind of caughtlocked in where they are, so
maybe they have the easierschedule, but, as we've seen,
the fever are not acting likethey have nothing to play for

(40:58):
and the links the same thing.

Speaker 1 (41:00):
I feel like the links could still have an outside
shot at that number four seed,which they would really really
want to play for because that'shome courted managed.

Speaker 3 (41:09):
Yeah, that difference between four and five is huge
Because, don't forget, it's twoto one is the thing.
So if you run at home, then youdon't even have to travel at
all, you don't even have toworry about about charity price.

Speaker 1 (41:22):
So which?
Do we even want to talk about?
That news that came out thisweek?
Yeah, I mean, I didn't evenhave that on my rundown.

Speaker 3 (41:29):
But yeah, the WNBA tripping over dollars to pick up
pennies again and again, andagain, and it just you guys.

Speaker 1 (41:38):
just so, the WNBA promised charter flights for the
whole playoffs.
It was in so many pressreleases for all the playoffs.
There were no asterisks.
There were no, no, anything.

Speaker 3 (41:50):
And now, all of a sudden, you and I both have been
in too.
We've like literally heardthese words, kind of with that
angle bar to mouth.

Speaker 1 (41:58):
And in like, and that's been their big I mean
it's been their selling point ofhow much progress is being made
.
And now it's come out thatthere's this asterisk where if
you win your series early, so ifand you have time off between
the next series you only get onecharter flight before your next
series.
So you have to either choose solet's say, the spark sweep and

(42:21):
then they're waiting for, or theaces sweep and then they're
waiting for who their nextopponent is going to be right.

Speaker 3 (42:28):
It'll only, it'll only be the bottom half of the,
because the aces will be at home, because it's oh right, right,
you're right.

Speaker 1 (42:35):
That would be later, yeah.

Speaker 3 (42:37):
So say it's the links and the wings and the links do
get the fives and the sweepDallas, and then they're waiting
to find out if they're going toConnecticut or Atlanta.
Do they stay in Dallas?
Do they fly home to Minnesota,or, but on those, or then do
they fly to there?

Speaker 1 (42:55):
They use a charter flight for the next one,
basically, and so they only getone charter flight, so they
can't charter home to Minnesotaand then to their second round.
They have to choose which oneis just dumb.
It's dumb because it's savingyou so little money.

Speaker 3 (43:11):
So why are we doing this?
On the next, it will save about$80,000.
Now do you and me?
Yes, $80,000.
A lot of money.
Absolutely.
It's a grand scheme of all ofthe money you're spending on
travel for the WNBA playoffs.

Speaker 1 (43:26):
And just the PR you're losing on this.
It's so dumb and like pissingoff the players.
What are you doing?
It's so dumb, all right, wecould go on.
I hate ending our segment thatway, but I think that's where
we're going to end it, with thefrustration of the league.
But I'm excited for the, forthe end of the regular season.
I am ready for the playoffs.

(43:47):
I can't wait to see how theseseeds shake out because, like we
said there, but the differencebetween four and five, six and
seven, eight, nine these arehuge differences we're talking
about.
Of course, the biggest is eightnine.
You're in or out of theplayoffs, but four or five home
court advantage, and then sixand seven facing the top two
teams which are in a tier aboveright Versus facing the the sun.

(44:11):
I mean, these are hugedifferences.
So much at stake.
We wanted to give it all thetime it deserved.
I think we've done that.
And, maggie Hendricks, how canpeople follow you?

Speaker 3 (44:20):
Okay, so currently I'm locked out on my Twitter
account, so you can follow me atMaggie HEND606.
Maggie, when it rains, it pours.
I know it was like all at thesame time.
So I got locked out on myTwitter account because I
screwed up my two factorauthentication.
But you can also follow me onInstagram and I talk a lot there
and blue sky.
Those are both Maggie Hendricks.

Speaker 1 (44:42):
Okay, repeat your Twitter thing again, maggie
HEND606.

Speaker 3 (44:48):
So basically, if I follow you and you're like, why
is Maggie following me andyou're not sure it is me, it is
me.

Speaker 1 (44:55):
It is, it is not.
It's not spam, maggie.
It is locked out, maggie, allright, thank you again, hello,
hello, hello.
I am back and now joined byCourtney Stith of Diaspora

(45:17):
United and CBS, and Courtney isever the New Yorker joining us
from her car as she tries toavoid a parking ticket.
So the power plate.
Last time we talked to you onthe power place podcast, you
were in New Zealand, so this isa little bit different of a
situation.

Speaker 4 (45:35):
Yeah, I was like New York.
You're not going to get meagain this week, so doing my
best to avoid another $65parking ticket because I've been
rocking it up.

Speaker 1 (45:49):
So thank you so much for joining us this week.
Last time we were previewingthe whole World Cup.
This time we're previewing amuch smaller cup the UKG NWSL
Challenge Cup.
The Challenge Cup is this week,so the regular season of NWSL
is kind of taking this week offand we're just focusing on the

(46:11):
Challenge Cup, which it'stougher to explain than it
should be.
But essentially it's a cupwithin a regular season.
At least that's how it was done.
It used to be a preseasontournament.
Now it ran concurrently withthe regular season and then next
year, as we will talk about it,won't exist anymore.
So I don't know how worth it isto go into the details of how

(46:35):
this works, but essentially yousplit up into three divisions.
The winner of these roundrobbing games from each division
gets into the Challenge Cupplayoffs, which is what we're
having this week, and then oneother team gets in based off of
record.
Are we okay?

(46:55):
Sorry, my fingers, my fingerswent on a ride, my fingers went
off my steering wheel, sorry,about that.
So one other team gets in basedoff of record.
So what we're basically leftwith is this Wednesday evening

(47:16):
at 8pm Eastern on CBS SportsNetwork we've got the Kansas
City Current facing off againstthe North Carolina Courage, and
then at 10pm Eastern on CBSNetwork we've got the OLRain
versus Racing Louisville andthen the winners of those two
games will play on I believe itis Saturday in the championship

(47:36):
match.
Now there is money at stake.
It's the $1.1 million prizepool.
It's being touted as the firstever million dollar prize pool
in US women's soccer.
That breaks down to the winnersgetting at most around $13,400,
which is a lot to some of theseplayers.
Some players that's half ofwhat their salary is.

(47:57):
You know 50% bump.
But you know the milliondollars breaks down pretty
quickly when you do it player byplayer.
Anyways, courtney, we want totalk a little bit.
Let's preview the individualgames we've got going on here
and then we can talk a littlebit about whether this week even
matters.
Isn't that a great pitch forpaying attention to the these

(48:22):
games?
But when you're looking at thecurrent versus the courage,
you've got one team that'sbasically out of the playoff
race, at the bottom of thestandings in the current and
then you've got one team in thecourage that is in the running
for the league shield, you know,in as a lot of teams are.
The races is very close rightnow the playoff races.

(48:43):
We discussed at the top of theshow, basically, that I would
look at that quickly and go oh,the courage should have this
easily.
But I don't know, because therecould be different incentives
here about who's playing hardand who's not.

Speaker 4 (49:00):
Yeah, definitely.
I mean, I think when, like Idon't know, because the
challenge was happening, youknow, the the group stage of the
challenge was happening whilesomebody these players are out
for the women's World Cup, andso a lot of the team it was it
was interesting.
You know, I was I was notwatching because it was
happening in saying hours when Iwas there, but it was

(49:21):
interesting seeing how teamsapproached it and I think for a
lot of teams it was actuallylike thinking about going down
to towards the end of the season.
It's where, like, a lot ofteams started like cementing
themselves.
So I know, like for the courage, for example, they were playing
the Washington spirit and itwas like or it was their second
to last group stage game and itwas nil nil.

Speaker 1 (49:43):
And then also on this , all of a sudden I scored six
goals in like 24 minutes orsomething like that it was one
of the craziest things I've everwitnessed, and by witness I
mean refreshed my phone as itwas happening like check the
score, and was like wait it'sfour nothing, refresh, wait it's
five nothing.

Speaker 4 (50:00):
Right exactly.
And so it's like it'sinteresting thinking about this
competition because it is where,like I think a lot of teams
like were able to kind of worksome things out Like we saw the
Kansas City Courage who weren'thaving like the greatest regular
season like find a way to cometogether and kind of make it
through the challenge cup.
So you know, when you ask aboutincentives going in, it might

(50:21):
be for some of these teams thatthey want to do a domestic
double, like for the NW cells.
I'm going to argue is basicallythe only league in the world
where you can't do it some sortof domestic double or some sort
of you know like treble-esquetype thing.
There's not concurrentcompetitions.
So I think there's still goingto be like plenty motivated

(50:44):
going into it.
And also, I mean the monetaryfactor is a big thing.
You know, with the end of withthe new NWSL CVA, the salary for
was raised a significant amount.
But I mean it's still, ifyou're making.
You know I can't remember whatthe minimum is off the top of my
head, but let's say the minimumis, you know, $50,000.
If you go and you win and youwin $13,000, that's still like

(51:06):
more than 25%.

Speaker 1 (51:08):
It's a big chunk of change, yeah.

Speaker 4 (51:10):
Like if.

Speaker 1 (51:10):
I got it if I got a $13,000 bonus for something
right now, I would be very happy, and my, you know my salary is
not that different from a lot ofplayers.

Speaker 4 (51:22):
So it's like still you know a big, significant
thing Like, and also theseplayers are elite athletes like,
they want to win, Like at the,at the base of it.

Speaker 1 (51:31):
I think I was wondering more.
Like you know, other teams aregetting this rest week.
Do you risk the health of yourteam?
Do you risk, you know, thefatigue that comes with it If
you're still in the shield?
Like you know the race for theshield or a high playoff seed,
are you playing like for thecourage?

(51:52):
Example, for the current, Ithink they're the bottom of the
playoff, of the standings.
They're going to go all out.
You know for this, no matterwhat right Like this is their
chance to really get somethingout of the season and maybe it
could propel them into, you know, grabbing one of the last
playoff spots if they really goon a run here at the end because

(52:12):
the table's that close.
But with the courage, like, areyou playing Emily Fox and
Caroline, you know, are youplaying your best players for
their full time?
Are you counting minutes?
I agree, I actually think we'regoing to see these teams go all
out, because I don't reallythink it's in their DNA to not
and over the courage inparticular, if they win, they I

(52:35):
mean assuming OL Rain has ascheduling conflict and cannot
host the final, because I sawthe courage who were the three
seed in this.
They said, if they win theirfirst game, they will be hosting
the final, which means theywould be facing either the one

(52:55):
or the four.
So if they're facing the fourseed, they would definitely be
hosting anyways.
And if the one seed is OL Rainso I'm guessing for them to have
said that then OL Rain musthave a scheduling conflict,
because I know it's in thebylaws that the teams get to.
But anyways, they're alreadytrying to hype up their
defending champions.
They're trying to hype up, youknow, the fan base around this.
So it seems to me like they'regoing to go all out.

(53:17):
Of course, you know if you'vegot to be in a versus Caroline,
like that's a fun matchup, nomatter what like sign me up.
All I'm hoping is that we seethat for sure.
Who would you pick in thecurrent versus the courage you?

Speaker 4 (53:31):
know I've been thinking about this and I don't
know it's tough.
I think if we're going to havethe courage, I'd like not like
got them come back like storm,back to a three three.

Speaker 3 (53:42):
I would be like- I was such a weird courage all the
day.

Speaker 4 (53:45):
I think it was absolute chaos.
But honestly I think I mighttip it to the courage just like
a tiny bit.
I think the game is going to beLike it watching the courage
game so much it was sorry, thecurrent game so much or it was

(54:06):
based off transition and I thinkwe oh, you've kind of looking
back in the Gotham game that thecurrent, the courage, can be a
little bit success, successfulon those transition moments and
so, yeah, I'm probably justgonna like very slightly like a,
like a 45, 55.
I tip it to Kansas City becauseI also think this name and I

(54:30):
think for Kansas City, likebecause of the way the NWSL
table is and truly no one is out, like I was explaining to
people like there aretechnically 12 points up for
grabs.
If a team goes like on a greatrun and gets those that run, of
what three or four wins math.

Speaker 2 (54:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (54:54):
They could very quickly like, get into, like,
but those last playoff spots,but all like that last playoff
spot, or even, depending onwhere, like which team it is,
they could very much get like ahome semi-final or a buy or
something like.
The table is Literally so tightthat anything is possible.
But I'm gonna, I'm gonna tip itto Kansas City just a bit.

Speaker 1 (55:13):
All right, I like that.
We're going again.
I'm going with the courage here.
And If you had to pick oneplayer on Kansas City and one
player on in North Carolina,that's not like that, the
headliner.
So you can't say, like to be Towatch out for who would it be?

Speaker 4 (55:32):
Yeah, I probably watch out for CC Kaiser for
Kansas City.
She's been Really productive ingetting into really good spaces
and like laying the ball off toa Kristen Hamilton or at times
of Dubena, and I think she'shonestly had a pretty good
season.

Speaker 1 (55:48):
So I would probably have goals, a season or
something really good like that.

Speaker 4 (55:53):
Yeah, yeah and she's been, and even when Dubena was
out she was still reallyconnecting a lot of play for
Kansas City.
I'm accessing the attackingthird, so I would definitely
keep an eye out for that for herand then for Carolina.

Speaker 1 (56:10):
Brianna Pinta.
Brianna Pinta, I know.

Speaker 4 (56:13):
I was thinking, I mean a Pinto 100%.
Oh, there's an ambulance behindme.
Should I stop talking?

Speaker 1 (56:20):
Yeah, just for a second, maybe what neighborhood.

Speaker 4 (56:28):
I live in Clinton Hill Okay.
So it's like not I mean where Ilive, it's like not even super
busy either.

Speaker 1 (56:34):
No, it's not.
That's a very quietneighborhood.

Speaker 4 (56:37):
Yeah, let me think I'm trying to say what was
approved, scored very recent.
Oh oh yeah, actually I rememberso for North Carolina, I'm
actually well, I think I wouldwant to say Brianna Pinto, I
would actually say Nerumi fromJapan, who I Was like I think

(56:58):
she should be like making aWorld Cup squad and she did not
make the World Cup squad and Iwas like, how do you?
But I actually think she'sReally like, honestly, really
really good for them, and so Ikeep my eye out on her.
I believe she scored her firstever NWSL goal this past weekend
against Gotham and every time IEveryone loves her.

Speaker 3 (57:23):
She's had some assists this season.

Speaker 1 (57:25):
So, yeah, I think she's in a good place.
All right, let's move on to theother game We've got going on
oh all rain versus racingLouisville oh Well, rain.
A stat that is wild to me isthey didn't lose a single game
in the group stage of thechallenge cup, so they've got so
many key players.
When you're going down theirlist, from Bethany Balser to

(57:47):
Jess fishlock to Sophia Huertato Quinn Rosalina Bell's been
injured a lot this season, butit's always a factor, emily son,
I mean the list goes on, what.
What sticks out to you from thematchup between the ol rain and
racing Louisville?

Speaker 4 (58:08):
Yeah, I think for that you have racing, who is has
a really, really young core,thinking about their Like
Savannah de Mello, tempica, thatLana, like I, just to stand out
for them long strong, whileshe's a bit older it's not like
necessarily like, it's not likeshe's like 33, just like 27.

(58:30):
I believe and that you knowthey have a lot of
internationals performing forthem who Honestly play some
really really fun football, likeI really enjoy watching racing
will play like 10 because a lotis like one of my Like all-time
favorite players.
Now she's so much fun to watchand, and you know they did pick
up, I think, a really big Likeobviously a big victory in the

(58:52):
end of this little table, butalso like a really big moral
victory this past weekend andbeating Portland for the first
time ever.
They had six tries and this isthe first time they've ever
beaten Portland, and so I thinkit's like, yeah, that's like,
you know, a really huge victoryfor them and then for all around
on the other side.
I Know it's really gonna.
I had questions about why theyswapped out fallen to a Joyce

(59:15):
for Dickey I believe it's herlast name.
So they like swap theirgoalkeepers a bit in the past I
want to say two to three weeks.
So the I have some questionsabout that because I thought
fallen to a Joyce was having afantastic season as keeper.
So I think for the two of themall rain it's going to be Can
they hit that goal scoring form,because I think at times this

(59:37):
past season it's wavered a bit.
They like you see them on paper,like, oh, they have all these
incredible pieces and sometimesit's just quite simply like can
they put the ball in the back ofthe net and then for racing
it's?
They're also, I think, going tocome in with a bit of a point
to prove.
So I think that I came.
It's honestly going to bereally, really good too, but I

(59:59):
would actually I don't know if Iwho I'd pick in this.
If I'm being my most honestself, you know I'll tip it.
Yeah, I'll probably tip it forall rain, but like it'll be like
a really close, like It'll belike three, two or two, one or
something.
It'll be a super close game.

Speaker 1 (01:00:18):
Cool.
I think I'm gonna tip racing,just because they've seemed to
have really taken the challengecup seriously the season maybe
the most seriously of anyone andso I like them to Finish it up.
Any players in that matchup weshould keep an eye out for.

Speaker 4 (01:00:37):
Yeah, I think for well, for racing, I am
definitely gonna tip Timbie cookAlana.
I just she is so good and Ithink what she really gets on
the ball and Begins to run atpeople, they just like sometimes
go a little scrambled egg brain, it's just like don't really
know to do.
And on the flip side of that, Ithink one of the main people
who are going to who's going tobe defending her is an Alana

(01:00:58):
cook who we unfortunately didnot see during the World Cup and
so Still not over every time.
I think I'm over it, I'm notover it.
I know it's such pain and yeah,I think she's gonna be tasked
with defending her and maybetake it for a second over in
player Jordan Heidemann Play forCanada.
She at least watching her playOrlando this past weekend.

(01:01:23):
Obviously she got the goal, butshe really seems to be their
target forward in the attack andso I think a lot of the players
are going to be able to get tothe top and so I think a lot of
those Aerial duels headers orwe'll go through her.

Speaker 1 (01:01:36):
I think she's her second leading score behind
balsa so far this season, soshe's she's having a good one
for sure, all right.
Well, I love that we pickdifferent winners in both of the
games.

Speaker 4 (01:01:46):
I think that Makes sense given the I mean only
thing we've seen is thatanything is possible, anything
is possible.

Speaker 1 (01:01:57):
I'm excited these games are gonna be on TV and not
Paramount Plus.
I know it doesn't make a hugedifference to a lot of people,
but it does to me and I think itdoes.
It just means a little bit morewhen you've got the TV games.
Even if it's CBS Sports Networkand not CBS, I'm excited to
kind of get to focus in on fourteams as opposed to having to
watch all 12 at once On aweekend.

(01:02:19):
But yeah, but thank you so muchfor joining us.
And how can people follow yourwork?

Speaker 4 (01:02:25):
Yeah, follow me on Twitter at at Courtney Stith and
then also follow DiasporaUnited on Twitter and Instagram
at Diaspora UTD POD.
And yeah, that's where you canfind our work.
We're still podcasting, eventhough we were in a little bit
of a world-cup hangover, mostlybecause that jet lag hit me
really really hard when I cameback.
You had quite the trip, myfriend you had quite the trip.

(01:02:47):
Yeah, yeah that those longflights really had me down and
out for a few days.
I just woke up and I was like Idon't know what time it is, I
don't know what day it is, butyeah, we're back podcasting.

Speaker 1 (01:02:59):
Awesome.
Well, can't wait to hear yourlatest and look forward to your
coverage of the rest of the WSLseason.
And, of course, things arestarting back up in Europe as
well, so there is no time off,really, and I Mean truly.

Speaker 4 (01:03:13):
World soccer never stops.

Speaker 1 (01:03:15):
It never stops.
Thanks so much, courtney, andgood luck with avoiding the
ticket.
Thank you.

Speaker 4 (01:03:20):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:03:25):
Thanks so much for listening to the power plays
podcast.
See you all next week.
You.