August 12, 2025 • 33 mins
Batter up!
Today’s episode of The GIST of It is a true home run, as co-hosts Ellen Hyslop and Steph Rotz discuss the Little League World Series (LLWS), the classic youth baseball competition molding the MLB stars of tomorrow. Tune in to learn how the LLWS works, why it’s such a magical tournament, and to meet the gals turning the baseball world upside down.
Show notes:
More on The GIST:
☎️ Leave us a voicemail! Call us at 1-437-564-5579 or hold down on this link
🎧 Subscribe: thegistsports.com/subscribepod
✉️ Email: pod@thegistsports.com
📷 Instagram: @thegistca @thegistusa
🐦 X: @thegistpod
Today’s episode of The GIST of It is a true home run, as co-hosts Ellen Hyslop and Steph Rotz discuss the Little League World Series (LLWS), the classic youth baseball competition molding the MLB stars of tomorrow. Tune in to learn how the LLWS works, why it’s such a magical tournament, and to meet the gals turning the baseball world upside down.
Show notes:
More on The GIST:
☎️ Leave us a voicemail! Call us at 1-437-564-5579 or hold down on this link
🎧 Subscribe: thegistsports.com/subscribepod
✉️ Email: pod@thegistsports.com
📷 Instagram: @thegistca @thegistusa
🐦 X: @thegistpod
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Happy Tuesday, jisters. Welcome or welcome back to another episode
of the Gist of It. Today is Tuesday, August twelfth.
We're your co hosts.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
I'm Ellen Hyslop and I'm Steph Rotts. It feels like
it's been a minute.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Ellen, I know it's been a minute. I was away
last week for a little VAK moment, even though we
pre recorded Thursday's podcast. I think it was so it
might not feel like I was away for that long.
But Steph and I haven't seen each other for an
entire week, which is a really long time for us.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
That is really long time for us.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
How has soccer been? Has there been?
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I haven't received any rage texts over the last week,
so I figured everything was okay.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I didn't go. I had a very bad migraine all
weekend and it was heat wave again, and I was like,
I don't think playing in a heat wave with a
migraine when I already feel like I might vomit is
a good idea. So I stayed home.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
I'm so glad that you listen to your body, I think,
because we should not be doing that. I'll be expecting
a rage text this upcoming Sunday. And we'll make sure
that I fill in everybody on what's happening with that.
I also really loved and very much enjoyed all of
the dms that we got on our Myers Briggs personality tests.
We got so many dms afterwards of everyone sharing their
(01:19):
Meers Briggs.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Please keep that coming.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
And if you haven't listened to Thursday's podcast episode, we
call it an audible and literally just talked about our
personality tests because.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
We're season and it's a LEO season and it was
so fun seeing people DM and also saying I'm a.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Protagonist, but I used to be this and now I'm
gonna take the sixteen personalities test and I'll let you know.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
So that was very unexpected but very fun.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
It was so much fun, and I'm just, yeah, I'm
really loving this new personal training session because it has
invited so many guests into our inboxes and I'm having
so much fun meeting all of you and also seeing
so much in common with people who are like on
the other side of the country, et cetera.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Exter yes, on the other side of the world in
some cases, like it's really really cool to see how
far and wide the gist of it listeners go and
where they're from.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
But today's podcast is really all over the place.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Like we're talking football, we're talking polk culture, we're talking baseball,
we're talking hockey.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
So please stay with us. The audible that stuff is
about to call is really fun and exciting.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
I shouldn't know what you're about to call, but I
do know because I know you well enough. Yeah, and
I also know you that I know that this is
what you want to talk about. But after that, we
need to be talking about baseball, but not MLB and
not softball, though we're going to touch on both of those,
but we want to talk about the Little League World Series,
which begins tomorrow and Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
You guys can't see Steff right.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Now, but she's like kicking her feet and putting her
face up to her mouth with joy, with excitement because
this is an annual use baseball tournament that is magical.
It's really sweet it and we want to break down
how it all works, how girls are taking the field
by storm, and also I think of how this is
(03:08):
just such a awesome kind of culmination of baseball in
someway or another, or maybe not culmination, but like celebration
of the sport in summer.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
It's summer, Summer is in the air.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
You know, it's based on.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
A hot dog, real bad. And I know that these
are ten to twelve year olds, which we'll get into.
But the reason why I'm squealing is because I'm just
thinking about all of those hilarious videos on of little
tiny tots starting baseball or softball for the first time
and it just being so fun It's so funny.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
There is some iconic social clips.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
I'm sure if you go on TikTok right now and
literally type in Little League, GIRLD series or LWS, the
TikTok highlights that you will see in the soundbites that
you will get are so next levels. It's some of
my favorite Sports Center Top ten moments.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Oh okay, yeah, so we're going to get all into that.
We're gonna get you in up to speed. If you've
never heard about it, trust me, Yeah, pure excitement. You're
gonna want to stick around. But before we do that,
and I do need to.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Call my audible, yes do it?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Okay, We are recording on Monday night, and this is
the day that Travis and Jason Kelsey. Ta's a very
special guest is coming on their podcast, New Heights. So
this is sports related. Those are two athletes, so just.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Just time that string athletes. They do it all, they
do it all.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
So New heightsler podcast is coming back from an early
is coming back early from their summer hiatus, and their
announcement included a stillowet in between the two of them
of someone who looks so much like Taylor Swift. Of course,
when you know you're stars, you know kind of what
they look like, what pictures they've taken, and they've also
changed the color of the background from their typical color
(04:49):
to an orange color. And so everyone is speculating, by everyone,
I mean Swifties, and come on, that's everyone pretty much
now that there's gonna be some sort of announcement coming
New Heights this week.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Which is so exciting.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
And I think Steph, before we got on, you could
not stop talking about the Easter eggs for Taylor Swift
potentially coming on New Heights, And I think what it
seems cool with this is that New Heights that generally
doesn't have Easter eggs, like no offense to the Kelsey brothers,
not smart enough for Easter eggs, but they seem to
be leaning into the Easter egg hype that Taylor Swift
(05:26):
has created in her fandom. And there's all these little,
I guess orange Easter eggs that seem to say that
Taylor may be going on, but not just going on,
like potentially announcing her reputation Taylor Edition maybe.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Or a new album entirely, or a new album entirely.
So let's walk through some of those Easter eggs real quick.
So the episode drops on August thirteenth. Thirteen is Taylor
Swift's favorite number. Twelve minutes after The New Heights announced
this episode, Taylor Nation Inta, which is one of her
official pages, posted a carousel with twelve slides in it,
all with Taylor wearing orange, with the caption that said
(06:07):
see you next Era. The background, like I mentioned of
this podcast announcement, is orange. So people think it's the
twelfth the twelfth album is coming.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Okay, So I got that wrong.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
It's not like reputation as the twelfth era, it's or
the twelfth album. It's like a full new album potentially. Also,
when would she have had time to write the album?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I don't know, or maybe I don't know. Obviously I'm
a Swift ye and everything, and I want new music,
but I also like, what if they're engaged. No, No,
you don't think that's how they'll announce it.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Taylor Swift would not go on New Heights and announce
an engagement.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
No, it's gonna be something so silly.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
It's gonna be something not related to the album. It's
gonna be I don't know.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
But also to something offhand on stage.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
I think, so it's gonna be like, oh, I am
going to be like playing the quote unquote halftime show
for NFL at Christmas or something.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
I don't know, Like maybe it's not actually going to.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Be that big of a thing, but it would just
be exciting to have her on the podcast because I
also think we've had an opportunity to obviously see them,
but they haven't been public and chatting with each.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Other, and she hasn't been on the pod yet. No,
she hasn't been on the pod yet.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
And it's generally you don't get to see that with
celebrities where they're actually on a podcast with someone whom
they love. But I feel like podcasting is such a
great way to see this. We've been seeing Michelle Obama
and Barack Obama. Not that I'm ever comparing Taylor Swift
and trus Kelsey to the Obamas, but I love listening
to podcasts when they're both on it because you kind
of you learned so much from both of them individually,
(07:44):
but I feel like you also learn so much from
them as a couple, and especially with some of what
they've been talking about recently too, has been really cool.
So it'll be fun either way.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
If it is her, and I've been waiting for you
to stop talking, so I could say, make in her
Pinot and Sue Bird have a podcast together, You're right,
And I love listening to them, and you learn so
much about their relationship and it's they're so captivating, so
of course it also happens in the realm of women's sports, so.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Their dynamic is so funny. I love it when they're like,
are you a Sue or a Megan? And You're always
a Megan and I'm always a Sue. Is generally work out,
and that's our dynamic.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
But I have the same birthday, super Bird, not years day. Yeah,
October sixteenth, we have the same birthday.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Really, mh. So maybe that Megan vibe is also why.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
You know, we work, we work, we work anyway, I
really hope you're right everyone. I think the episodes coming
out on Wednesdays, so stay tuned. Taylor Swift and Travis
Kelcey and Jason Kelsey side, we have to head to
(08:53):
the diamond for today's One Big Story because tomorrow mark's
the start of the Little League World Series, a late
summer aprile featuring the best ten to twelve year old
players from.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Around the world.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Seph, I imagine I'm picturing myself at ten years old
to twelve years old. That was in the prime of
when I was watching sports and playing sports to time. Yeah,
you spent so much time doing that and it was
your entire life. So I can only imagine how freakin'
stoked these little kids are. So the Little League Softball
World Series. If you're wondering when the Softball World Series, Oh,
(09:27):
go ahead.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Size, I just need you to say, I just need
you know. I googled it. That would have been that
age is when we met. Yeah, grade four, yeah, so
going go oh yeah, so nine to ten is grade four,
so we ten to twelve, that's around the time that
we would have met. So just picture us in our
little soccer uniforms as talking about it.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
I literally was picturing that.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Okay, I just want to make sure you know that
I was so into I literally was like that was
when I was so prime.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
I was so into it. Soccer was life.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
I don't think I wore anything but our track suits
and our jerseys to school every single day.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Sorry to interrupt you, but I was googling it. You
probably heard my keyboard, not at all.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
That's why it's so it's so it's so sweet, and
I think so endearing to watch something like the Little
World Series because we've all been that age and can
all imagine the excitement.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
And it's also cool.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
And what I was going to get to before you
rightly interrupted me, I really appreciate that interruption. The Little
League's Softball World Series, so on the girl's side, just
wrapped up over the weekend with Johnston, Pennsylvania taking the title,
and so now it's time for the baseballers to take
the field.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
And if you aren't familiar with the hype of the
Little League World Series, there are so many reasons tune
into this particular tournament. These kids have so much passion
for the sport and watching them compete really brings out
just that joy that Ellen was talking about. It really
just transcends and just really like put you right back
into being a ten to twelve year old and it's
(10:52):
just so so awesome to watch.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
It's inner child healing.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Yes, it is, as long as nothing traumatic happens.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Yes, I mean they're ten to twelve, Like we're you're
not seeing any serious injuries, you know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Good, that's true because baby bounce.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
They bounce, they bounce, and you know they're fine.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
If they're they're totally fine. They bounce.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Oh. I watched Freakier Friday last week?
Speaker 3 (11:16):
How was it?
Speaker 2 (11:17):
And it was so good? And the premise is they
switch with the younger girls and so the grandmother and
the mother are in the teen bodies and they go
around and they fall off and they say, nothing broke.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
I can get up.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
I can stand there.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Like just trying all of these things that their young
bodies can do.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
And you're like relatable content, really relatable content.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
Wait, I love that.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
We were talking about that at work today and I said, oh,
I was waiting for a rainy day to go watch
freak Your Friday. I think you're the only person that
would in the dead heat of the summer on a
sunny day.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Say no, I'm going to watch Freak Your Friday.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
No, No, I went before it even hit the theaters. Technically,
I went before open Day. I like went to like
a like a screening with my my friends. I organized it.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Let you like, how did you get those tickets through
the gest to it?
Speaker 3 (12:04):
You leverased your powers?
Speaker 2 (12:05):
This podcast cost I emailed the broadcaster. No, they were
just available. They TechEd it, but it wasn't advertised. Do
you know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Wait, that's so you I'm obsessed. It was so good.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Everybody, you gotta watch it. I laughed, I cried, I
embarrassed my friends. It was perfect.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Oh my gosh, I love it. Thank you so much
for sharing.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
So you were turning into Freak your Friday.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
Tune in to the Little League World Series because they're good, dude, right, Like,
we've obviously been handing up the fact that they're children,
but they are good and that's the reason why they
are in this tournament.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Over sixty former Little League World Series competitors went on
to compete in the MLB, which is a pretty huge
stat including some pretty big names. And so you do
like to watch every year because it's a little bit
perhaps of a glimpse into what might be the future.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Yeah, and some of those big names are Boston Red
Sox legend Jason Vertec who I'm obsessed with, current Yankee
Cody Bellinger, and former player turned Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash.
So they've been in the game for a really long
time and I'm so excited that we can break it
all down today.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
So let's start with how the tournament works. So it
is a modified double elimination tournament, and it begins Wednesday,
so tomorrow if you're listening to the podcast on the
day that it comes out, and it will culminate with
the championship game on Sunday, August twenty fourth. The tournament
features twenty teams total, so it's split up ten teams
from the US representing different regions and ten international squads,
(13:33):
and then those are separated into two brackets. So there
are two separate international brackets. The US championship winner will
ultimately play the international bracket winner.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Yes, And so one thing too, is that it doesn't
mean that these little kids are flying across Canada to
try to make the team, or that they're flying in
from Massachusetts to make the New England team. Generally, what
they'll do is, at least my understanding, is they'll pick
a team who's kind of representing them, or they'll put
a city that will represent an entire state or an
(14:04):
entire or sorry, an entire region or entire country. So
in this case, Canada is being represented by a group
of kids from Vancouver, and this year the New England
region is being represented by Massachusetts, but in other times
it might be from Maine or Verbont or wherever elseau wild, like,
at ten years old to twelve years old, you can't
(14:25):
be doing that. They're children there, they're still kids. They
might be on travel teams, but like, we're not.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
We're not doing that.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
And can you imagine not knowing your teammates at that
age too, being crossed into a huge competition like this,
Like to me, it'd.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Be like overnight camp is scary enough, you know what
I mean, Being televised on national TV is terrifying enough.
You want to do that with your friends. And each
team did have to prove themselves, so they had to
win their district, they had to win their sectional, their state,
and their regional tournament. So all of these kids are
flying high as they make it to the Little League
World Series.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
It's one percent and a huge accomplishment to even be
in the tournament. And I feel like, because there are children,
we're allowed to emphasize that, because of course this supplies
for any playoff contending team, but of course these are kids.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Yeah, these are kids.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Let's talk about where is taking place, because baseball is
one of those sports who just loves making everything nostalgic
and tradition forward and exciting. So William's sport is a
hallowed ground for these youngsters. The tournament has been played
there every year since it debuted in nineteen forty seven.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
That's the only part where I'm like, hmm, women. Women
were still not allowed to play sports at that point.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
But we're like, yeah, sure, let's tell enter our entire
lives around these ten year old boys.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
You just you don't want to go back to the
forty seven You know what I mean? You don't want
to go back to the.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Whenever anyone romanticizes the past, I always think, I no,
thank you.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
I go the part about no phones, the part about
no email, no lapto boats here like for sure, But
then let's think about no voting.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Let's think about not being able to wear pants.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Let's think about not getting a mortgage, Let's think about
not having a credit card.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Like there's so many other.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Things that we been to nineteen forty seven exactly, but
no phone, no laptop, no email.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
One hundred percent why not?
Speaker 1 (16:15):
And that, my friends, is nineteen ninety nine, So let's
go back to.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
The nineties anyway.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
And it was founded in willing to support Pennsylvania, which
is how they've retained the hosting rights. One of my
favorite mainstays of the events stuff, and this is just
like so kids, there's a big hill in the outfields,
and generally during the tournament they'll take these huge pieces
of cardboard and they'll slide down this big hill and
(16:43):
you see all these kids like crashing on the cardboard.
Some of the media personalities also get into it, and
it's very silly and it's very fun.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
So that's one of the traditions here too.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Would that be one of the Sports Center round up
things that you're talking about?
Speaker 3 (16:56):
One hundred percent. It's iconic. It's like summer toboga.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
So of course there is a lot of fun baked
into this tournament and baked into the fanfare and the
history of this tournament in the US.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Games air on.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
ESPN and future often viral player highlights and interviews like
we kind of alluded to, parent interviews and crowd shots
are also tear inducing. Sometimes sometimes I'm just like can't,
I can't even compose myself.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
It's so it's so good.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
And then what's also cool is that Major League Baseball
gets involved. So MLB does host the Little League Classic,
which is a regular season Sunday night baseball competition, which
is also hosting Williams Sport. And this is so cool
because you get to see these little leaguers hang out
with MLB players, and those MLB players attend the games,
(17:49):
and then the kids watch the pros, and so it's
just so nice because you could see when we were
talking about Veritec and whoever else and Bellinger beforehand, you
could see how being a little and then having the
opportunity to meet your hero at that age would really
incentivize you and motivate you to stay in the game
and hopefully do something with your favorite sport.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
And this year that game will be the Seattle Mariners
versus the New York Mets on Sunday, August seventeenth.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
So this is the gist.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
We also have to talk about women because this isn't
just for boys. Women do continue to take baseball by storm,
and so we need to shout out the girls who
participated in the Little League World Series. They change their
rules in nineteen seventy four, which is actually quite progressive
to start allowing girls to compete. Need us remind you though,
ten to twelve, like it's they it should always been
(18:39):
to COVID, like it should just be co ed anyway.
And also here too, we talked about softball and the
little in that World Series, and then when you're talking
about the Little League World Series here, they are very
different sports softball and baseball, the rules, the approach, how
you play them very different. Oftentimes women go into softball
(19:01):
and or girls go into softball and boys go into baseball,
but that is really not always the case.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Anyone can play softball, anyone can play.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Baseball, and we started seeing more and more women getting
into the baseball side of things and then also potentially
continue in on softball when they actually have opportunities to
expand thanks to something like AUSL Now the athletes Unlimited
Softball League.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
A total of twenty three girls have participated in the
Little League Baseball World Series, including one in each of
the last four editions of the tournament. Money Davis is
undoubtedly the most well known, captivating the sports world with
her heroics. In twenty fourteen, she became the first girl
to earn a win and throw a shutout in Little
League World Series history. Just a massive culture.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
You remember that.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Of course, it was so good and I feel like
twenty fourteen that's when social was really kind of taking off.
She started throwing a bunch of first pitches at MLB games.
After that, everyone was paying attention to Money Davis fourteen
mm hm.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
And this year Monica Curiy will become just the second
girl to represent Australia at the series.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Absolutely love to see you.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
I'm so excited for these little tikes. I'm so excited
for their families. And again let's remember this is all
in good fun and celebrating sport.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
It's time for our personal training, SASH. This is where
we would absolutely love to answer any of your hard
hitting questions about anything, and we mean anything in the
sports world.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
We also love a hot take, We love a dm
about your sixteen personality tests.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
We love it all.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
If you'd like to be featured on a future episode,
please call us and leave us a voicemail at one
four three seven five six four five five seven nine.
We've also linked that number in the show notes so
you can literally just click on it right from the
show notes.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
We love hearing your voices so much. It's great.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
You can email us at pot at the Just or
feel free to message us on Instagram at ellen Ethangists
or at Sephanie Rots. For today's Personal Training sessh, we
have been getting a lot of questions that have been similar,
and so we are bucketing them under one kind of
question and a warning as we get into this personal
(21:20):
training sesh that we are going to be mentioning sexual assaults.
So if you are not comfortable listening, please skip ahead
skip this segment. We will catch you on the next episode.
So a few different gisters have asked us to kind
of clarify a little bit more about, especially our American listeners,
about what hockey culture is, especially following our coverage of
(21:44):
the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial and kind of separating out,
like are.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
All hockey players like bad people?
Speaker 1 (21:53):
How are we breaking apart the player from the culture,
and they were all such smart and really articulate question.
So thank you to everyone who emailed us dm us
over like, since we really were talking about that Hockey
Canada trial.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
And this felt like the perfect.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Session for stef personal training step for Steph. So, Seph,
I would love for you to take it away, and
I doubt I'll be able to add anything anywhere, but
if I know, please I'll jump in.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Please interrupt me, because I will talk about this for forever.
So for context, I did grow up playing hockey and
I still well. I have had a hiatus by will
be returning to hockey very shortly. Yeah, and I know
so I learned a lot from hockey and hockey the sport.
Like Ellen said, in hockey the culture are two very
different things. And when we talk about hockey culture, we're
(22:47):
largely talking about it from a Canadian context and we're
talking about about it from a men's sport context.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Just again, I do want to say those I do
want to say those, Steph, as much as you say
Canadian context, it is American too. The hockey culture on
that side is similar because they are taking a page
out of Canada's book. For sure, there's a lot of
Canadians that are mixed into the American hockey culture. But
I do think it is men's hockey culture across North America.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Men's hockey culture across North America. But the culture itself,
I would say, is one of Canada's most unfortunate experts.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Yes, ooh, I love that line.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Because hockey in Canada really is like a site of
maintaining a certain nation that was created X amount of
years ago. So hockey in Canada is a reflection of
the colonization that happened here and the violence that was
inherent in it. It's a reflection of the whiteness that
(23:43):
our nation was built on after that colonization. It's a
reflection of masculinity and sexism, and it really uses these
pillars to kind of create and prop up hockey as
our sport across the nation. And you really can't take
it apart from those systemic challenges because it has just
(24:04):
really ameshed itself with the Canadian identity over time. And
when you think about that Canadian context, young men and
men who excel at hockey get put on this pedestal
and really kind of exempt from what would be thought
of as like proper etiquette and behavior, and this happens
(24:27):
at a very young age. And for hockey culture, it's
unique because hockey kids get removed from their homes very young.
This is different than other sports in the sense that
they start professionally, like while they're in high school and
they could potentially be staying with people who aren't their parents.
They get removed from their environments. You go pro before
(24:47):
ever going to school. It's not even a one year
mandatory thing like it is in other sports for men's hockey,
and so it really is a young culture that is
targeting these men when they are like vulnerable, I would say.
And it really encourages a sameness that other sports don't have.
(25:09):
Like when you think about picture hockey, everyone looks the
same on the ice. It's very different than basketball, it's
very different than baseball. Like there is just this sameness,
this hegemonic masculinity that's really encouraged. Everyone is encouraged to
perform their gender and their sexuality in this same way,
and that can manifest throughout the sport through hazing. So
(25:30):
you have to become one of us. So there's a
lot of violence encouraged in that it can be like
simple teasing. Like even Austin Matthews, who was a professional
player in the NHL, did a fashion spread and like
some of the outfits were a bit out there and
ridiculous and fun, but just simply because he was a
hockey player, he got so much backlash I think from
that too, because everyone has to look the same and
(25:53):
sound the same. Like there's a literal way that hockey
players in Canada talk no matter where you are in
the nation. It is such a hegemonic culture and it
really does perpetuate violence because of that. So black players
can get taunted on the ice. Racism is really not
like it's not taken very seriously. A lot of it
(26:15):
can happen without any sort of consequence. A lot of
the history of black and indigenous hockey players in Canada
has been completely erased from the sport, similar to like
just like the colonial paths of Canada, and gay players
stay closeted or they self select out of the game entirely.
Is a very expensive sport, so it just really does
perpetuate and kind of hold up a mirror to the
(26:38):
way that Canada has previously built itself, which I think
is in contrast to I think the way that Americans
would know us. But this is very much show the
Canadian culture.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
And i'd like, again coming back to that line of
hockey culture being Canada's most dangerous exports. When we have
talked about on the podcast of what is happening within
the NHL, of what is happening at different levels across
the AHL, and with hockey altogether. Hockey really did get
its roots and its foundation in Canada, and that dissipates
(27:10):
across the NHL, trickles down and then also has that
trickle effect up too, And so I do think that
that's why you might start to see it across North
America or broadly from that culture perspective. But the way
that Canada puts hockey players on this pedestal is the
same way that Americans would put football players on that pedestal.
But I think that there is just this like different
(27:31):
community and approach to football than there is with hockey.
I also think, too, Sep you did talk with them
being so young. We're talking like fourteen fifteen years old,
where they're deciding if they want to work their butts
off to try to make it to the show, which
is the NHL, and oftentimes they're having to make really
tough decisions at that point going to bill it with
(27:53):
their families. What I will say, it's not like this
is unique to sports. This is happening in soccer, men's soccer, women's,
this is happening in gymnastics, figure skating, what have you.
And there's issues with all of those sports that we
have gotten into before on the podcast and that we
can potentially get into as well. But there is something
(28:16):
different about it being everything that you already talked about,
while also at the same time, by the time you're eighteen.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Years old, being able to make a million dollars.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
And that's a big part of this sport as well,
is you can see yourself actually making millions of dollars
when you're not even twenty years old yet.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
And the way that you get treated by adults as
a reflection of that when you're in high school, like
you can foot the bill for things in ways that
children shouldn't be expected to foot the bill, and players, teachers, coaches,
they really do turn a blind eye to a lot
of terrible behavior because like the ultimate status symbol in
(29:00):
Canada is being good at hockey, and there's a lot
of complacency with making sure that these quote unquote like
stars get protected. And there's also a lot of participation
from the adults in the room in this toxic culture
and teaching it and passing it down. And there's been
some great research in the past couple of years really
(29:21):
digging into what is hockey culture, what does it mean,
how does it affect these young men? And there have
been reports of grown men like also objectifying and partaking
in terriblacks towards a fifteen year old girl like this
is like a very much so a part of the
culture when you get up to the elite level that
there's just this assumption that you are of like godlike
(29:44):
status in Canada.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
That is such a great explanation. I mean hope that
it was helpful to all of our registers. If you
have any additional thoughts, if you have feelings of your own,
if you want to get into any of the other
conversations that we mentioned again, give us a show.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
We are all ears. Steph thank you so much for
breaking that down so eloquently.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
I tried my best not to be angry. I'm sorry,
and because it really is. I love the sport. I
still played the sport, and I like have seen this
happen to young boys who have gotten into the sport
and completely change their identities because of and so you
really do need to take it apart and think, how
is this affecting of course women, and how is this
(30:23):
affecting the community, and how is it also affecting these
young men in the.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Sport too, because it does have potential to be so powerful.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
In a great way.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
Yeah, Like it is such a great sport and it
does have potential to do things in a positive light,
in a positive way. And I think in a similar
way of what we see maybe in women talking. I
think that obviously there's some stuff.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Yeah, but woman talk is also evolved a lot faster
because I hold each other to a higher standard. We
don't allow that to happen at the same scale totally.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
So I don't know, there's I'm I'm hopeful that with
these conversations that things are going to and have started
to change in hockey, But we're not holding our breath
just yet, especially what just happened with that trial.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Yes, yes, not a great moment for survivors in that
space for sure.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
No, And with that uplifting moment. Thank you so much
for listening today.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
We really appreciate it. We will be back in your
feed with a new podcast on Thursday. In the meantime,
if you enjoyed this podcast, we'd love for you to
share it with a friend, subscribe, rate review.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
That's the best way that other people can find the podcast.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Also, thank you to everyone who's been sharing the podcast
on their stories recently too, from Spotify.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
It's super easy to do. Thank you for doing that.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Thank you so much, Thank you for being here. This
episode was edited by Savannah Held and produced by Alessandra Puccio,
Laura and Tescala, and Marcus Eison. Again, I'm step Rotts.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
And I'm Ellen Hissleab and we will chat with you soon.
(32:46):
A
Happy Tuesday, jisters. Welcome or welcome back to another episode
of the Gist of It. Today is Tuesday, August twelfth.
We're your co hosts.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
I'm Ellen Hyslop and I'm Steph Rotts. It feels like
it's been a minute.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Ellen, I know it's been a minute. I was away
last week for a little VAK moment, even though we
pre recorded Thursday's podcast. I think it was so it
might not feel like I was away for that long.
But Steph and I haven't seen each other for an
entire week, which is a really long time for us.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
That is really long time for us.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
How has soccer been? Has there been?
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I haven't received any rage texts over the last week,
so I figured everything was okay.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I didn't go. I had a very bad migraine all
weekend and it was heat wave again, and I was like,
I don't think playing in a heat wave with a
migraine when I already feel like I might vomit is
a good idea. So I stayed home.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
I'm so glad that you listen to your body, I think,
because we should not be doing that. I'll be expecting
a rage text this upcoming Sunday. And we'll make sure
that I fill in everybody on what's happening with that.
I also really loved and very much enjoyed all of
the dms that we got on our Myers Briggs personality tests.
We got so many dms afterwards of everyone sharing their
(01:19):
Meers Briggs.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Please keep that coming.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
And if you haven't listened to Thursday's podcast episode, we
call it an audible and literally just talked about our
personality tests because.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
We're season and it's a LEO season and it was
so fun seeing people DM and also saying I'm a.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Protagonist, but I used to be this and now I'm
gonna take the sixteen personalities test and I'll let you know.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
So that was very unexpected but very fun.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
It was so much fun, and I'm just, yeah, I'm
really loving this new personal training session because it has
invited so many guests into our inboxes and I'm having
so much fun meeting all of you and also seeing
so much in common with people who are like on
the other side of the country, et cetera.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Exter yes, on the other side of the world in
some cases, like it's really really cool to see how
far and wide the gist of it listeners go and
where they're from.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
But today's podcast is really all over the place.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Like we're talking football, we're talking polk culture, we're talking baseball,
we're talking hockey.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
So please stay with us. The audible that stuff is
about to call is really fun and exciting.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
I shouldn't know what you're about to call, but I
do know because I know you well enough. Yeah, and
I also know you that I know that this is
what you want to talk about. But after that, we
need to be talking about baseball, but not MLB and
not softball, though we're going to touch on both of those,
but we want to talk about the Little League World Series,
which begins tomorrow and Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
You guys can't see Steff right.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Now, but she's like kicking her feet and putting her
face up to her mouth with joy, with excitement because
this is an annual use baseball tournament that is magical.
It's really sweet it and we want to break down
how it all works, how girls are taking the field
by storm, and also I think of how this is
(03:08):
just such a awesome kind of culmination of baseball in
someway or another, or maybe not culmination, but like celebration
of the sport in summer.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
It's summer, Summer is in the air.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
You know, it's based on.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
A hot dog, real bad. And I know that these
are ten to twelve year olds, which we'll get into.
But the reason why I'm squealing is because I'm just
thinking about all of those hilarious videos on of little
tiny tots starting baseball or softball for the first time
and it just being so fun It's so funny.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
There is some iconic social clips.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
I'm sure if you go on TikTok right now and
literally type in Little League, GIRLD series or LWS, the
TikTok highlights that you will see in the soundbites that
you will get are so next levels. It's some of
my favorite Sports Center Top ten moments.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Oh okay, yeah, so we're going to get all into that.
We're gonna get you in up to speed. If you've
never heard about it, trust me, Yeah, pure excitement. You're
gonna want to stick around. But before we do that,
and I do need to.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Call my audible, yes do it?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Okay, We are recording on Monday night, and this is
the day that Travis and Jason Kelsey. Ta's a very
special guest is coming on their podcast, New Heights. So
this is sports related. Those are two athletes, so just.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Just time that string athletes. They do it all, they
do it all.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
So New heightsler podcast is coming back from an early
is coming back early from their summer hiatus, and their
announcement included a stillowet in between the two of them
of someone who looks so much like Taylor Swift. Of course,
when you know you're stars, you know kind of what
they look like, what pictures they've taken, and they've also
changed the color of the background from their typical color
(04:49):
to an orange color. And so everyone is speculating, by everyone,
I mean Swifties, and come on, that's everyone pretty much
now that there's gonna be some sort of announcement coming
New Heights this week.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Which is so exciting.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
And I think Steph, before we got on, you could
not stop talking about the Easter eggs for Taylor Swift
potentially coming on New Heights, And I think what it
seems cool with this is that New Heights that generally
doesn't have Easter eggs, like no offense to the Kelsey brothers,
not smart enough for Easter eggs, but they seem to
be leaning into the Easter egg hype that Taylor Swift
(05:26):
has created in her fandom. And there's all these little,
I guess orange Easter eggs that seem to say that
Taylor may be going on, but not just going on,
like potentially announcing her reputation Taylor Edition maybe.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Or a new album entirely, or a new album entirely.
So let's walk through some of those Easter eggs real quick.
So the episode drops on August thirteenth. Thirteen is Taylor
Swift's favorite number. Twelve minutes after The New Heights announced
this episode, Taylor Nation Inta, which is one of her
official pages, posted a carousel with twelve slides in it,
all with Taylor wearing orange, with the caption that said
(06:07):
see you next Era. The background, like I mentioned of
this podcast announcement, is orange. So people think it's the
twelfth the twelfth album is coming.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Okay, So I got that wrong.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
It's not like reputation as the twelfth era, it's or
the twelfth album. It's like a full new album potentially. Also,
when would she have had time to write the album?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I don't know, or maybe I don't know. Obviously I'm
a Swift ye and everything, and I want new music,
but I also like, what if they're engaged. No, No,
you don't think that's how they'll announce it.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Taylor Swift would not go on New Heights and announce
an engagement.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
No, it's gonna be something so silly.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
It's gonna be something not related to the album. It's
gonna be I don't know.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
But also to something offhand on stage.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
I think, so it's gonna be like, oh, I am
going to be like playing the quote unquote halftime show
for NFL at Christmas or something.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
I don't know, Like maybe it's not actually going to.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Be that big of a thing, but it would just
be exciting to have her on the podcast because I
also think we've had an opportunity to obviously see them,
but they haven't been public and chatting with each.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Other, and she hasn't been on the pod yet. No,
she hasn't been on the pod yet.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
And it's generally you don't get to see that with
celebrities where they're actually on a podcast with someone whom
they love. But I feel like podcasting is such a
great way to see this. We've been seeing Michelle Obama
and Barack Obama. Not that I'm ever comparing Taylor Swift
and trus Kelsey to the Obamas, but I love listening
to podcasts when they're both on it because you kind
of you learned so much from both of them individually,
(07:44):
but I feel like you also learn so much from
them as a couple, and especially with some of what
they've been talking about recently too, has been really cool.
So it'll be fun either way.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
If it is her, and I've been waiting for you
to stop talking, so I could say, make in her
Pinot and Sue Bird have a podcast together, You're right,
And I love listening to them, and you learn so
much about their relationship and it's they're so captivating, so
of course it also happens in the realm of women's sports, so.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Their dynamic is so funny. I love it when they're like,
are you a Sue or a Megan? And You're always
a Megan and I'm always a Sue. Is generally work out,
and that's our dynamic.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
But I have the same birthday, super Bird, not years day. Yeah,
October sixteenth, we have the same birthday.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Really, mh. So maybe that Megan vibe is also why.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
You know, we work, we work, we work anyway, I
really hope you're right everyone. I think the episodes coming
out on Wednesdays, so stay tuned. Taylor Swift and Travis
Kelcey and Jason Kelsey side, we have to head to
(08:53):
the diamond for today's One Big Story because tomorrow mark's
the start of the Little League World Series, a late
summer aprile featuring the best ten to twelve year old
players from.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Around the world.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Seph, I imagine I'm picturing myself at ten years old
to twelve years old. That was in the prime of
when I was watching sports and playing sports to time. Yeah,
you spent so much time doing that and it was
your entire life. So I can only imagine how freakin'
stoked these little kids are. So the Little League Softball
World Series. If you're wondering when the Softball World Series, Oh,
(09:27):
go ahead.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Size, I just need you to say, I just need
you know. I googled it. That would have been that
age is when we met. Yeah, grade four, yeah, so
going go oh yeah, so nine to ten is grade four,
so we ten to twelve, that's around the time that
we would have met. So just picture us in our
little soccer uniforms as talking about it.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
I literally was picturing that.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Okay, I just want to make sure you know that
I was so into I literally was like that was
when I was so prime.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
I was so into it. Soccer was life.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
I don't think I wore anything but our track suits
and our jerseys to school every single day.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Sorry to interrupt you, but I was googling it. You
probably heard my keyboard, not at all.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
That's why it's so it's so it's so sweet, and
I think so endearing to watch something like the Little
World Series because we've all been that age and can
all imagine the excitement.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
And it's also cool.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
And what I was going to get to before you
rightly interrupted me, I really appreciate that interruption. The Little
League's Softball World Series, so on the girl's side, just
wrapped up over the weekend with Johnston, Pennsylvania taking the title,
and so now it's time for the baseballers to take
the field.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
And if you aren't familiar with the hype of the
Little League World Series, there are so many reasons tune
into this particular tournament. These kids have so much passion
for the sport and watching them compete really brings out
just that joy that Ellen was talking about. It really
just transcends and just really like put you right back
into being a ten to twelve year old and it's
(10:52):
just so so awesome to watch.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
It's inner child healing.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Yes, it is, as long as nothing traumatic happens.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Yes, I mean they're ten to twelve, Like we're you're
not seeing any serious injuries, you know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Good, that's true because baby bounce.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
They bounce, they bounce, and you know they're fine.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
If they're they're totally fine. They bounce.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Oh. I watched Freakier Friday last week?
Speaker 3 (11:16):
How was it?
Speaker 2 (11:17):
And it was so good? And the premise is they
switch with the younger girls and so the grandmother and
the mother are in the teen bodies and they go
around and they fall off and they say, nothing broke.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
I can get up.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
I can stand there.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Like just trying all of these things that their young
bodies can do.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
And you're like relatable content, really relatable content.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
Wait, I love that.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
We were talking about that at work today and I said, oh,
I was waiting for a rainy day to go watch
freak Your Friday. I think you're the only person that
would in the dead heat of the summer on a
sunny day.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Say no, I'm going to watch Freak Your Friday.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
No, No, I went before it even hit the theaters. Technically,
I went before open Day. I like went to like
a like a screening with my my friends. I organized it.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Let you like, how did you get those tickets through
the gest to it?
Speaker 3 (12:04):
You leverased your powers?
Speaker 2 (12:05):
This podcast cost I emailed the broadcaster. No, they were
just available. They TechEd it, but it wasn't advertised. Do
you know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Wait, that's so you I'm obsessed. It was so good.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Everybody, you gotta watch it. I laughed, I cried, I
embarrassed my friends. It was perfect.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Oh my gosh, I love it. Thank you so much
for sharing.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
So you were turning into Freak your Friday.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
Tune in to the Little League World Series because they're good, dude, right, Like,
we've obviously been handing up the fact that they're children,
but they are good and that's the reason why they
are in this tournament.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Over sixty former Little League World Series competitors went on
to compete in the MLB, which is a pretty huge
stat including some pretty big names. And so you do
like to watch every year because it's a little bit
perhaps of a glimpse into what might be the future.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Yeah, and some of those big names are Boston Red
Sox legend Jason Vertec who I'm obsessed with, current Yankee
Cody Bellinger, and former player turned Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash.
So they've been in the game for a really long
time and I'm so excited that we can break it
all down today.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
So let's start with how the tournament works. So it
is a modified double elimination tournament, and it begins Wednesday,
so tomorrow if you're listening to the podcast on the
day that it comes out, and it will culminate with
the championship game on Sunday, August twenty fourth. The tournament
features twenty teams total, so it's split up ten teams
from the US representing different regions and ten international squads,
(13:33):
and then those are separated into two brackets. So there
are two separate international brackets. The US championship winner will
ultimately play the international bracket winner.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Yes, And so one thing too, is that it doesn't
mean that these little kids are flying across Canada to
try to make the team, or that they're flying in
from Massachusetts to make the New England team. Generally, what
they'll do is, at least my understanding, is they'll pick
a team who's kind of representing them, or they'll put
a city that will represent an entire state or an
(14:04):
entire or sorry, an entire region or entire country. So
in this case, Canada is being represented by a group
of kids from Vancouver, and this year the New England
region is being represented by Massachusetts, but in other times
it might be from Maine or Verbont or wherever elseau wild, like,
at ten years old to twelve years old, you can't
(14:25):
be doing that. They're children there, they're still kids. They
might be on travel teams, but like, we're not.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
We're not doing that.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
And can you imagine not knowing your teammates at that
age too, being crossed into a huge competition like this,
Like to me, it'd.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Be like overnight camp is scary enough, you know what
I mean, Being televised on national TV is terrifying enough.
You want to do that with your friends. And each
team did have to prove themselves, so they had to
win their district, they had to win their sectional, their state,
and their regional tournament. So all of these kids are
flying high as they make it to the Little League
World Series.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
It's one percent and a huge accomplishment to even be
in the tournament. And I feel like, because there are children,
we're allowed to emphasize that, because of course this supplies
for any playoff contending team, but of course these are kids.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Yeah, these are kids.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Let's talk about where is taking place, because baseball is
one of those sports who just loves making everything nostalgic
and tradition forward and exciting. So William's sport is a
hallowed ground for these youngsters. The tournament has been played
there every year since it debuted in nineteen forty seven.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
That's the only part where I'm like, hmm, women. Women
were still not allowed to play sports at that point.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
But we're like, yeah, sure, let's tell enter our entire
lives around these ten year old boys.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
You just you don't want to go back to the
forty seven You know what I mean? You don't want
to go back to the.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Whenever anyone romanticizes the past, I always think, I no,
thank you.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
I go the part about no phones, the part about
no email, no lapto boats here like for sure, But
then let's think about no voting.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Let's think about not being able to wear pants.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Let's think about not getting a mortgage, Let's think about
not having a credit card.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Like there's so many other.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Things that we been to nineteen forty seven exactly, but
no phone, no laptop, no email.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
One hundred percent why not?
Speaker 1 (16:15):
And that, my friends, is nineteen ninety nine, So let's
go back to.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
The nineties anyway.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
And it was founded in willing to support Pennsylvania, which
is how they've retained the hosting rights. One of my
favorite mainstays of the events stuff, and this is just
like so kids, there's a big hill in the outfields,
and generally during the tournament they'll take these huge pieces
of cardboard and they'll slide down this big hill and
(16:43):
you see all these kids like crashing on the cardboard.
Some of the media personalities also get into it, and
it's very silly and it's very fun.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
So that's one of the traditions here too.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Would that be one of the Sports Center round up
things that you're talking about?
Speaker 3 (16:56):
One hundred percent. It's iconic. It's like summer toboga.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
So of course there is a lot of fun baked
into this tournament and baked into the fanfare and the
history of this tournament in the US.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Games air on.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
ESPN and future often viral player highlights and interviews like
we kind of alluded to, parent interviews and crowd shots
are also tear inducing. Sometimes sometimes I'm just like can't,
I can't even compose myself.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
It's so it's so good.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
And then what's also cool is that Major League Baseball
gets involved. So MLB does host the Little League Classic,
which is a regular season Sunday night baseball competition, which
is also hosting Williams Sport. And this is so cool
because you get to see these little leaguers hang out
with MLB players, and those MLB players attend the games,
(17:49):
and then the kids watch the pros, and so it's
just so nice because you could see when we were
talking about Veritec and whoever else and Bellinger beforehand, you
could see how being a little and then having the
opportunity to meet your hero at that age would really
incentivize you and motivate you to stay in the game
and hopefully do something with your favorite sport.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
And this year that game will be the Seattle Mariners
versus the New York Mets on Sunday, August seventeenth.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
So this is the gist.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
We also have to talk about women because this isn't
just for boys. Women do continue to take baseball by storm,
and so we need to shout out the girls who
participated in the Little League World Series. They change their
rules in nineteen seventy four, which is actually quite progressive
to start allowing girls to compete. Need us remind you though,
ten to twelve, like it's they it should always been
(18:39):
to COVID, like it should just be co ed anyway.
And also here too, we talked about softball and the
little in that World Series, and then when you're talking
about the Little League World Series here, they are very
different sports softball and baseball, the rules, the approach, how
you play them very different. Oftentimes women go into softball
(19:01):
and or girls go into softball and boys go into baseball,
but that is really not always the case.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Anyone can play softball, anyone can play.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Baseball, and we started seeing more and more women getting
into the baseball side of things and then also potentially
continue in on softball when they actually have opportunities to
expand thanks to something like AUSL Now the athletes Unlimited
Softball League.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
A total of twenty three girls have participated in the
Little League Baseball World Series, including one in each of
the last four editions of the tournament. Money Davis is
undoubtedly the most well known, captivating the sports world with
her heroics. In twenty fourteen, she became the first girl
to earn a win and throw a shutout in Little
League World Series history. Just a massive culture.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
You remember that.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Of course, it was so good and I feel like
twenty fourteen that's when social was really kind of taking off.
She started throwing a bunch of first pitches at MLB games.
After that, everyone was paying attention to Money Davis fourteen
mm hm.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
And this year Monica Curiy will become just the second
girl to represent Australia at the series.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Absolutely love to see you.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
I'm so excited for these little tikes. I'm so excited
for their families. And again let's remember this is all
in good fun and celebrating sport.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
It's time for our personal training, SASH. This is where
we would absolutely love to answer any of your hard
hitting questions about anything, and we mean anything in the
sports world.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
We also love a hot take, We love a dm
about your sixteen personality tests.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
We love it all.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
If you'd like to be featured on a future episode,
please call us and leave us a voicemail at one
four three seven five six four five five seven nine.
We've also linked that number in the show notes so
you can literally just click on it right from the
show notes.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
We love hearing your voices so much. It's great.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
You can email us at pot at the Just or
feel free to message us on Instagram at ellen Ethangists
or at Sephanie Rots. For today's Personal Training sessh, we
have been getting a lot of questions that have been similar,
and so we are bucketing them under one kind of
question and a warning as we get into this personal
(21:20):
training sesh that we are going to be mentioning sexual assaults.
So if you are not comfortable listening, please skip ahead
skip this segment. We will catch you on the next episode.
So a few different gisters have asked us to kind
of clarify a little bit more about, especially our American listeners,
about what hockey culture is, especially following our coverage of
(21:44):
the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial and kind of separating out,
like are.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
All hockey players like bad people?
Speaker 1 (21:53):
How are we breaking apart the player from the culture,
and they were all such smart and really articulate question.
So thank you to everyone who emailed us dm us
over like, since we really were talking about that Hockey
Canada trial.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
And this felt like the perfect.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Session for stef personal training step for Steph. So, Seph,
I would love for you to take it away, and
I doubt I'll be able to add anything anywhere, but
if I know, please I'll jump in.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Please interrupt me, because I will talk about this for forever.
So for context, I did grow up playing hockey and
I still well. I have had a hiatus by will
be returning to hockey very shortly. Yeah, and I know
so I learned a lot from hockey and hockey the sport.
Like Ellen said, in hockey the culture are two very
different things. And when we talk about hockey culture, we're
(22:47):
largely talking about it from a Canadian context and we're
talking about about it from a men's sport context.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Just again, I do want to say those I do
want to say those, Steph, as much as you say
Canadian context, it is American too. The hockey culture on
that side is similar because they are taking a page
out of Canada's book. For sure, there's a lot of
Canadians that are mixed into the American hockey culture. But
I do think it is men's hockey culture across North America.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Men's hockey culture across North America. But the culture itself,
I would say, is one of Canada's most unfortunate experts.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Yes, ooh, I love that line.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Because hockey in Canada really is like a site of
maintaining a certain nation that was created X amount of
years ago. So hockey in Canada is a reflection of
the colonization that happened here and the violence that was
inherent in it. It's a reflection of the whiteness that
(23:43):
our nation was built on after that colonization. It's a
reflection of masculinity and sexism, and it really uses these
pillars to kind of create and prop up hockey as
our sport across the nation. And you really can't take
it apart from those systemic challenges because it has just
(24:04):
really ameshed itself with the Canadian identity over time. And
when you think about that Canadian context, young men and
men who excel at hockey get put on this pedestal
and really kind of exempt from what would be thought
of as like proper etiquette and behavior, and this happens
(24:27):
at a very young age. And for hockey culture, it's
unique because hockey kids get removed from their homes very young.
This is different than other sports in the sense that
they start professionally, like while they're in high school and
they could potentially be staying with people who aren't their parents.
They get removed from their environments. You go pro before
(24:47):
ever going to school. It's not even a one year
mandatory thing like it is in other sports for men's hockey,
and so it really is a young culture that is
targeting these men when they are like vulnerable, I would say.
And it really encourages a sameness that other sports don't have.
(25:09):
Like when you think about picture hockey, everyone looks the
same on the ice. It's very different than basketball, it's
very different than baseball. Like there is just this sameness,
this hegemonic masculinity that's really encouraged. Everyone is encouraged to
perform their gender and their sexuality in this same way,
and that can manifest throughout the sport through hazing. So
(25:30):
you have to become one of us. So there's a
lot of violence encouraged in that it can be like
simple teasing. Like even Austin Matthews, who was a professional
player in the NHL, did a fashion spread and like
some of the outfits were a bit out there and
ridiculous and fun, but just simply because he was a
hockey player, he got so much backlash I think from
that too, because everyone has to look the same and
(25:53):
sound the same. Like there's a literal way that hockey
players in Canada talk no matter where you are in
the nation. It is such a hegemonic culture and it
really does perpetuate violence because of that. So black players
can get taunted on the ice. Racism is really not
like it's not taken very seriously. A lot of it
(26:15):
can happen without any sort of consequence. A lot of
the history of black and indigenous hockey players in Canada
has been completely erased from the sport, similar to like
just like the colonial paths of Canada, and gay players
stay closeted or they self select out of the game entirely.
Is a very expensive sport, so it just really does
perpetuate and kind of hold up a mirror to the
(26:38):
way that Canada has previously built itself, which I think
is in contrast to I think the way that Americans
would know us. But this is very much show the
Canadian culture.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
And i'd like, again coming back to that line of
hockey culture being Canada's most dangerous exports. When we have
talked about on the podcast of what is happening within
the NHL, of what is happening at different levels across
the AHL, and with hockey altogether. Hockey really did get
its roots and its foundation in Canada, and that dissipates
(27:10):
across the NHL, trickles down and then also has that
trickle effect up too, And so I do think that
that's why you might start to see it across North
America or broadly from that culture perspective. But the way
that Canada puts hockey players on this pedestal is the
same way that Americans would put football players on that pedestal.
But I think that there is just this like different
(27:31):
community and approach to football than there is with hockey.
I also think, too, Sep you did talk with them
being so young. We're talking like fourteen fifteen years old,
where they're deciding if they want to work their butts
off to try to make it to the show, which
is the NHL, and oftentimes they're having to make really
tough decisions at that point going to bill it with
(27:53):
their families. What I will say, it's not like this
is unique to sports. This is happening in soccer, men's soccer, women's,
this is happening in gymnastics, figure skating, what have you.
And there's issues with all of those sports that we
have gotten into before on the podcast and that we
can potentially get into as well. But there is something
(28:16):
different about it being everything that you already talked about,
while also at the same time, by the time you're eighteen.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Years old, being able to make a million dollars.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
And that's a big part of this sport as well,
is you can see yourself actually making millions of dollars
when you're not even twenty years old yet.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
And the way that you get treated by adults as
a reflection of that when you're in high school, like
you can foot the bill for things in ways that
children shouldn't be expected to foot the bill, and players, teachers, coaches,
they really do turn a blind eye to a lot
of terrible behavior because like the ultimate status symbol in
(29:00):
Canada is being good at hockey, and there's a lot
of complacency with making sure that these quote unquote like
stars get protected. And there's also a lot of participation
from the adults in the room in this toxic culture
and teaching it and passing it down. And there's been
some great research in the past couple of years really
(29:21):
digging into what is hockey culture, what does it mean,
how does it affect these young men? And there have
been reports of grown men like also objectifying and partaking
in terriblacks towards a fifteen year old girl like this
is like a very much so a part of the
culture when you get up to the elite level that
there's just this assumption that you are of like godlike
(29:44):
status in Canada.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
That is such a great explanation. I mean hope that
it was helpful to all of our registers. If you
have any additional thoughts, if you have feelings of your own,
if you want to get into any of the other
conversations that we mentioned again, give us a show.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
We are all ears. Steph thank you so much for
breaking that down so eloquently.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
I tried my best not to be angry. I'm sorry,
and because it really is. I love the sport. I
still played the sport, and I like have seen this
happen to young boys who have gotten into the sport
and completely change their identities because of and so you
really do need to take it apart and think, how
is this affecting of course women, and how is this
(30:23):
affecting the community, and how is it also affecting these
young men in the.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Sport too, because it does have potential to be so powerful.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
In a great way.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
Yeah, Like it is such a great sport and it
does have potential to do things in a positive light,
in a positive way. And I think in a similar
way of what we see maybe in women talking. I
think that obviously there's some stuff.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Yeah, but woman talk is also evolved a lot faster
because I hold each other to a higher standard. We
don't allow that to happen at the same scale totally.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
So I don't know, there's I'm I'm hopeful that with
these conversations that things are going to and have started
to change in hockey, But we're not holding our breath
just yet, especially what just happened with that trial.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Yes, yes, not a great moment for survivors in that
space for sure.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
No, And with that uplifting moment. Thank you so much
for listening today.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
We really appreciate it. We will be back in your
feed with a new podcast on Thursday. In the meantime,
if you enjoyed this podcast, we'd love for you to
share it with a friend, subscribe, rate review.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
That's the best way that other people can find the podcast.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Also, thank you to everyone who's been sharing the podcast
on their stories recently too, from Spotify.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
It's super easy to do. Thank you for doing that.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Thank you so much, Thank you for being here. This
episode was edited by Savannah Held and produced by Alessandra Puccio,
Laura and Tescala, and Marcus Eison. Again, I'm step Rotts.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
And I'm Ellen Hissleab and we will chat with you soon.
(32:46):
A
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