August 14, 2025 • 31 mins
Buckle up.
The WNBA’s first-ever international regular-season game tips off in Vancouver tomorrow at 10 p.m. ET, marking the third Canada Game in the league’s history. Before the Seattle Storm and Atlanta Dream battle for Great White North bragging rights (and fight to maintain their playoff positions), tune into today’s episode of The GIST of It to learn about this monumental moment for Canada women’s basketball, the implications for the W’s future expansion plans, and of course, to hear who co-hosts Ellen Hyslop and Steph Rotz are rooting for. Swish swish.
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
The WNBA’s first-ever international regular-season game tips off in Vancouver tomorrow at 10 p.m. ET, marking the third Canada Game in the league’s history. Before the Seattle Storm and Atlanta Dream battle for Great White North bragging rights (and fight to maintain their playoff positions), tune into today’s episode of The GIST of It to learn about this monumental moment for Canada women’s basketball, the implications for the W’s future expansion plans, and of course, to hear who co-hosts Ellen Hyslop and Steph Rotz are rooting for. Swish swish.
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 Friday, Junior best Sies. I'm so excited that it's
almost the weekend. It has been one of those weeks
and I'm so glad that we're with you entering the weekend.
Welcome or welcome back to another episode of The Gist
of It. Today's Thursday, August fourteenth. We're your co hosts.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I'm Ellen Hyslop and I'm Steph Roths.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
There's a lot of news in the sports world right now,
namely a lot of news around Taylor Swift being on
Travis and Jason Kelsey's podcast New Heights to announce her
new album, and we're going to get to that in
a little bit. We already talked about the Little League
World Series, and today we are talking about something really
(00:47):
cool that's coming out of the WNBA, and that is
them playing a regular season game in Canada. The Seattle
Storm is taking on the Atlanta Dream in the league's
first ever regular season international game. And so we're talking
about this today because yeah, it is a big deal
for Canadian basketball. But I would argue the real angle
(01:09):
to all of this is that this is a big
deal for the league and to women's sports period. As
they're starting to play international friendlies, and we're seeing more
and more of this in the women's sports space. So
whether you're a WNBA fan or not, a Canadian or not,
I think that there's a really interesting business angle to
all of this and what this means in women's sports
(01:31):
that we're going to get into. And then I love
today's personal training sash question. I'm like, really really excited
to dig into that.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
So let's leave some time for that and just probably
dig right into the audible that we need to call
today before we get into that. One big story being
the WNBA and all of the expansion growth, et cetera,
and that is that Timothy Chilame is going to be
playing a professional ping pong player in a movie. And
I am so excited.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
So the movie is called Marty Supreme, Like it's not
just any movie. It's a movie called Marty Supreme, and
Timothy Shalloway has a mustache and is playing a professional
ping pong player. Table tennis really is what we should
be calling it, as the Olympics call it table tennis.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I love that you needed to amend what I said
to include the mustache.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
It's important. I think that is really important to paint
the entire picture. I think also sef because don't you
find And I actually, as I'm saying this, I'm like,
I actually have no idea if this is true, but
don't you find that Timothy Shaalame is an amazing method actor.
And I actually don't know what method acting is, but
I feel like I heard that once and I feel
like him having a mustache and playing Marty Supreme, it
(02:46):
just kind of says to stage a little bit more.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
He really does dive into the roles and really immerse
himself in what he needs to learn. When we're thinking
about the Bob Dylan movie, yes that he did, and
we're thinking about this particular mustache table ten movie. He
has apparently been training four months because he did do
some of his own stunts, and if you've watched.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Table tennis, you know that this is no.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Joke like jumping diving the range emotion you need to
achieve you're like seven to eight feet away from the table.
So he's been training. He has immersed himself in this
like he did Bob Dyla's music.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
That was such a good movie. I'm so glad that
you brought that up, because that's what I was going
to bring up and I think that Timothy shallow May
is this guy who's sneakily athletic, you know what I mean.
You look at him and you look at his stature
and you go, mm, wouldn't be someone I'd necessarily say
would be athletic. But I think he's one of those
people that can just kind of do it all. And
(03:43):
I think that it's really exciting to put some respect
on table tennis's name, especially ahead of LA twenty eight,
because I think people really really enjoy a playing ping
pong for fun, but I think people really enjoy watching
table tennis in the Olympics because we have no idea
how great it can get, at least in North America,
and so being able to watch this is really cool.
(04:05):
And so the script is loosely based on the life
of a professional ping pong player, Marty Reisman, who we
are going to now call Marty Supreme, who reached the
height of his game in the nineteen forties and fifties,
hence the mustache. And it's the most expensive film A
twenty four has ever shot, and it's a seventy million
(04:29):
dollar budget, and in today's economy, I go, what.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
You know, what I think to me, To me, if
I had to maybe stereotype him or pigeonhole him, do
it into something, I would think if I met this
man on the street, I would think, yeah, he could
be into rock climbing, yes, steph, yeah, that's why that's
the vibe.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Then, but strong enough to pull himself up, but light
enough that he doesn't have a lot to pull up exactly.
I love that so much. Also love because we have
to mention it. We do just have to talk about
tailor stuff for one second, and I think the biggest
thing for me Steff okay a her album's coming out
in October. Happy early birthday to us, Thank you so
(05:10):
much tailor stuff. But also b to me, I'm actually
so shocked that she announced this on the New Heights
podcast Are you No?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Why Are I Am? What I needed to say today?
Speaker 3 (05:24):
We recorded Monday's podcast please Yes too early, and then
she released more information. More information trickled out throughout the
evening after we had already recorded, and we by the
time the podcast went live we sound like fools, fools,
so I'm so sorry.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Absolute fools. We were on a fools air and also
because we were like, how could they even announce anything
until Wednesday, but they just gave everything away, the full kit.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Gave it all. Know what people want.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
But so anyway, but I think the biggest thing, and
I saw this on social media Steph is I was like,
that girl's got to be in love with Travis Kelsey.
If she's like, you know what, fuck it, let's announce
this new podcast. Let's announce this new album while we're
on the podcast. She doesn't need that, you know what
I mean? She could do whatever the hell she wants
in announcing her twelfth album, but she's like, no, what baby,
It would be so fun. We did this on the
(06:12):
podcast together. You guys need some exture ratings. Why don't
we do it.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
It's kind of the word not entanglement and something else
where you like really start to I messure live with
your like the two lives together when you partner anyhow,
that's what it feels like.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Asking each other for words or for phrases or for sayings.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Is so dangerous. Yeah, you don't know anything.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
It's really dangerous territory. But anyway, I'm so excited for
a new sports movie. Go go, Timmy. We love you know.
I love a sports movie. The sports movies hate to
see me coming, so I'm.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Really really really looking forward to this.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
All right, it's time to discuss into the main topic
for today, and that is the fact that tomorrow was
ten pm Eastern WNBA game is going to be taking
place in Canada, in Vancouver in Rogers Arena, which is
where the NHL's Vancouver Connects typically play.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
It's huge, major, huge major, a big deal, and this
is a monumental moment. Again, yes for Canada basketball, but
I want to say it one more time, this is
a huge moment for women's sports period and for the
WNBA period. Actually playing a real regular season game internationally.
In the past, there's been WNBA Canada games that Seph
(07:31):
and I have had the privilege of going to, but
they've all been pre season more so exhibition games. And
actually playing a regular season game I think does show
that they are taking Canada seriously as a basketball market,
as they should, because they're seeing a lot of opportunities
in the NBA with the Toronto Raptors and Canada as
(07:52):
really this basketball market. But we're going to get to
that in a minute. I know you want to talk
about the Canadiana of it all. Stuff But when I
look more broad at sports, the best leagues, maybe not
the best leagues, but some of the top performing leagues
are the ones that have the opportunity to go international
to drive fandom even further. We look at European soccer
(08:14):
and the matches that they'll sometimes play in North America.
We look at the NFL playing games over in Europe,
in London and in Germany. We think about the NHL
playing games over in Sweden. We had some Women's Super
League teams come over and play I think they were
still exhibitions though against Gotham. And so when I think
about the WNBA playing a regular season game at a
(08:35):
new place and quote unquote an international market today, I'm saying, okay, cool,
they're taking a page out of men's sports books when
we're looking at the NHL, where we're looking at the NFL,
and they're saying, how can we grow fandom in new
places so that it supports our league because they have
finally such a great foundation in the US. And so
(08:56):
I just think that that, to me is the story here,
is that they are having an international game that matters
for the regular season. And if they're doing this for Canada,
could they one day be like the NFL and head
over to Europe that already boasts incredible women's basketball leagues
and try to drum up some fandom there too. It's
(09:16):
just the start of something, let the start of something new.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
We could say, I really don't want to discount what
you just said, and I just need to make a
quick joke. And I absolutely love how a three hour
distance game from Seattle is an international game.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
No, no, you're right, I know, but it is.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
It's a different country. It's just yeah, no, one hundred percent. Sorry,
I just needed to make that jug the job, the joke,
like it's.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Fair but technically it's international.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
However, was that the exhibition games that were previously hosted
in Canada were both one hundred percent sold out, so
in Toronto and Edmonton, and so the appetite is here.
They demonstrated that, and from twenty twenty three to twenty
twenty four, when those exhibition games were being held, the
WNBA viewership in Canada jumped one hundred and seventy five percent.
That's good business, right, And we all know the Toronto
(10:06):
Tempo is going to be one of the new expansion
teams in twenty twenty six, So it doesn't feel like
a huge leap here right to maybe play a regular
season game in Canada.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
No, it really doesn't feel like it. And maybe they'll
start to play some more regular season games in potential
expansion markets. We also know that the WNBA is expanding
to Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia very soon in twenty twenty eight,
twenty twenty nine, and twenty thirty, respectively. So the league
is growing and they're finding ways to grow their fandom too.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
So we're thinking about expansion here. We're thinking about the
WNBA growing, and of course the WCS Canada as a
hotbed for potential future teams. I'm not quite sure if
we will get a second team personally, since the NBA
doesn't have a second team.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
I doubt it. I doubt it.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
But you never really know where they're where they're going,
and you don't really know if they're going to let
the Connecticut Sun relocate, like we talked about on a
previous podcast.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Following that, You've been the tea that came out today
on Wednesday. No, So it's so basically when the WNBA
and everyone was kind of reviewing what could happen with
the Connecticut Son and the purchase. They didn't say that
they had moving rights at the same time when the
(11:26):
initial kind of group got together to buy the Connecticut Sun.
And so now there's multiple bids on the table to
buy the Connecticut Sun because now location and movement is
on the table. So even moving them from like Connecticut
into Boston is something that the league additionally has to
review on top of an ownership change. And so now
(11:49):
like Houston is in the mix for the Connecticut Son
because they didn't really sort that out and they approved
a potential new ownership change. So it's all, it's all
very interesting. We don't have time to like fully give
the sorry today, but you did open a can of
worms just with the Connecticut Sun, is that there's a
lot of nuance here of where the Connecticut Sun could
(12:11):
end up because those were two separate issues of buying
the team and then also where they're potentially needing to locate.
So when we say wherever the heck the Connecticut Sun land,
we truly mean wherever the heck the Connecticut Son may
land based off of the approval of the ownership group
and the location.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Okay, wow, sorry, de Rail.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
One thing we do know, yeah, because this has been
confirmed by the league is that the Toronto Tempo when
they join next year in twenty twenty six, they won't
be playing all of their regular season home games in Toronto.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
They are going to be playing what the league said,
home games all across Canada in twenty six, and there's
been confirmation that there'll be games in Vancouver and Montreal.
I don't know if we'll see another city because to me,
it's like Chuck chick check. Maybe they'll do Edmonton or
Calgary or something in the Prairies.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
That's so interesting. I think what's cool too, is that
I think the WNBA is really recognizing Canada as a hotbed.
The chief Growth Officer and friend of the Giscllei Edison,
said that the country's passion for women's sports is why
the league keeps coming back. I think that you look
at the PWHL and the success we've seen there, the
Northern Super League and the success we've seen there. But
(13:25):
also when you think about it, Canada's population is what
now Steph likes thirty three million. It's about the same
size as California from a population perspective, maybe slightly bigger
than California. California is an exceptionally important market to sports,
and so when you look at the opportunity, it makes
(13:46):
sense to me how the WNBA is recognizing that the
Toronto Tempo isn't Toronto's team, no Canadian team maybe outside
of the PWHL and the NHL is like truly Toronto's team.
Raptors are Canada's team, the Toronto Blue Jays are Canada's team,
and the WNBA is so smart by marketing the Tempo
(14:07):
as Canada's team, not Toronto's team.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
With that being said, Vancouver often wrote for Seattle sports
teams because they are so close together, with the exception
of course, if they have an actual team. So we're
not talking about the NHL, we're not talking about the
PWHAHL that will be getting a team in this upcoming season.
It's more Baseball, NFL and oh gosh, what's the other one.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Where they don't have a team, and basically.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
All of them, and I think stef that's why they've
chosen the Seattle Storm to be a part of this
regular season game. I think that what's interesting with this
regular season game though, is that it's the Seattle Storm
as well as the Atlanta Dream but actually, no Canadian
players will be featured in this game. Generally, in the past,
when we looked at the exhibition games, there was at
(14:58):
least one Canadian playing Keya Nurse who's now with the
Chicago skuy not playing Bridget Carlson with the Minnesota Lynx.
I'm still reeling over an A Fisa Collier and then
Aliah Edwards of the Connecticut Son she is, which also
still feels weird saying that she's with Connecticut instead of
the Washington Mystics. Anyway, it feels weird. So I think
(15:19):
that this is really interesting that the WNBA is saying
like we actually don't need the Canadians to host a
regular season game. The WNBA and Seattle and Atlanta can
stand on their own.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
What I would love to know from listeners if you
live in Vancouver, are you gonna cheer for the Toronto
Tempo or are you gonna maybe continue to cheer for
the Seattle Storm. I would absolutely love to know.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
I think it also depends. I think it depends on
the players in my opinion too. If Seattle Storm was
still Rocket with Meka Gloom, Mackay and Skyler Diggins, like,
how do you cheer against them? And can you cheer
for both of them? Like Mecca gloom Mackay is just
perfection to me, and like is one of the most
underrated or under respected players. And then when we look
(16:01):
at Atlanta, the Vancouver crowd gets to see potentially Britney Greiner,
who's working her way back from neck injury, but also
Alicia Gray, like she has been the it girl for
the Atlanta Dream. She's averaging twenty two point five points
per game this August, and so I think she's going
to be the main player who Seattle's going to have
to figure out to shut down. But I think the
(16:25):
fans are in for something really, really cool.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
It's time for our personal training SASH. This is where
we'll answer your heart any questions about anything, and we
mean anything in.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
The sports world.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
We would also welcome any sort of hot takes or
commentary that you'd like to provide us and have us
react to.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
As per usual, if you want to be featured in
an episode, call us and leave us a voicemail at
one four three seven five six four five five seven nine.
You can click on it in the show notes and
you'll call us or you can email us at pod
at the jisports dot com or DM Steph and I
on Instagram at ellen Ethagists or at Sephanie Rots. We
love all three methods, but today we're so excited because
(17:14):
we got an amazing voicemail and we love hearing your voices.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
It's so awesome.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
We are taking a question from Kamara and Atlanta, Georgia.
She raised such great points about the push and pull
of being an NFL fan, and the danger of the
sport too, and how dangerous football can be. We shorten
our voicemail just a little bit to get it all
in there because you had so many amazing thoughts, so
(17:40):
we brought in the key parts that you were talking about.
So without further ado, here's our personal training SESSH today. Hi.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
My name is Kamara. I'm living in Atlanta, Georgia, but
grew up in Chicago actually Western several booth parts. I've
fallen out of washing the NFL because of Colin Kaepernick
stuff and other things, et cetera. But because the Lions
have gotten a little better and because my girlfriend is
really into the NFL, I've gotten more into it. And
(18:11):
this year I went to the preseason game this past
Saturday in Atlanta, where the player got a Lion's player
got what looked like seriously injured. I know that, thank
God that he's you know, apparently he left the hospital
(18:31):
and he has feeling in all his limbs. But being
in the stadium I have like full big chills thinking
about it. Ever since then, I found it really scary
and nauseous to think even about watching a game again.
I just wanted to bring in some experts because me
(18:52):
and my partner got into kind of a a stand
not a standstill, but like you didn't come to any
answers about it, and I was just wondering what you
thought about continuing to support a sport that is so
life or death. Should we be normalizing this sport? Anyways,
(19:15):
thank you so much. I love your episodes, especially by
THEW and Go Dream and thanks again.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Ye, thank you so much for this question. And I
do feel like it is a hard question to answer,
and so maybe let's start first with some background for
folks who aren't fully up to speed with the incidents
that you're talking about.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
You want to start with Alan.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Yes, let's do it. So last Friday, during a preseason game,
Detroit's line safety Maurice Norris was carted off the field
in an ambulance in the fourth quarter after attempting to
tackle Atlanta Falcons running back Nathan Carter. The game was
suspended after this play because both teams and coaches were
very rattled by this hit and what happened after it.
(19:58):
The lines and Falcons held hands to show support for
Morris as he left the fields. Norris did regain all
movement and feeling in his body, and he is officially
in concussion protocol. Did you have a chance to see
the hit, Steph, Have you seen this? I would like
not to, Okay, I just I want to paint the
picture just a little bit more because I do think
(20:18):
what we're getting to and what like she's getting to,
is that when he was hit, unfortunately, his head kind
of put came back, his neck came back, and he
was having full body convulsions in a seizure on the fields.
And it was really scary, and I think something that
(20:39):
so many people haven't seen beforehand, and I think that's
why so many people were really shook. The players were shook,
the coaches, the fans, everyone. It was really scary and
I think that some would argue that it was life threatening,
and we've seen this in recent years.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
In the NFL.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
We talked about it in twenty three when Bill's safety
Tomorrow Hamlein heart stopped on the field after a hit
in twenty twenty three. I don't know if that was
because of a hit for that one in particular, Miami
Dolphins quarterback to a tongue of Iiloa has had at
least three diagnosed concussions over the last two years, and
there was discussion of him potentially leaving the NFL because
(21:22):
of his concussions and him wanting to still be there
for his family fully in his full mental capacity as
he continued to age. And so there's a lot of
things to get into here. I know that you have thought, Sef,
and I have thought one thing before we get into
all of this. We're not doctors. We are fully just fans.
(21:44):
We are not great at sciences either of us. We're
not in the medical field, but we do our best
to stay educated and read content. One of my favorite
follows on TikTok is this neurosurgeon who was by Lady
Spinedock on TikTok. She has two point five million followers,
(22:06):
and a lot of people follow her because she has
a family. She's somehow working these insane hours all the time.
She's literally completing surgery on brain and she's a neurosurgeon.
But she also breaks down things like this in a
really approachable way and in layman's terms. And so when
(22:26):
I saw this highlight Steff, because I was oh eating
lobster rolls on Friday night, I immediately went to Lady Spinedock
and then also researched some other sources online and she
gave a fantastic breakdown of what happened in this play.
And so I'll try to find the link to her
TikTok and post in the show notes for ease of access.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Do you have a Cole's notes? I'm so curious, totally
hanging out.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
But yeah, the Cole's notes really was that it was
the way that he was making the hit, or try
to make the hit, the way that his head and
his neck basically reacted to the body of his opponent.
His neck actually came up in a really unnatural way, essentially,
(23:15):
and had this reaction through his body and his spine
that sent him into these seizures, and his body was
reacting to that really intense hit.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Yeah, I have a really tough time. Let's get into
the opinion piece. Yeah, good.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Perhaps I have a really hard time with men's talking
and with NFL. I still watch both of them, but
I do kind of do it through my hands some days,
kind of like a horror film film, because I do
find it really hard to watch such brutal hits, such violence.
(23:51):
And that's why I also worry, and I'm such a
staunch advocate for the PWHL not hitting in the same
capacity or encouraging fighting in the same capacity is the NHL,
because I do think over time it's a slippery slope
and it's really really hard for me as someone who's
had multiple concussions, and Allen, I.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Know you have as well, to watch this stuff over
and over again.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
I find the NFL really tough because I think I
love the NFL is my favorite league. I love watching football,
It's my favorite sport to watch. However, I do think
that there's always a way to make the NFL more
safe and taking out these types of tackles. I think
with the NFL when it initially started, there wasn't helmets
(24:35):
in the same way that we have helmets today, and
there were deaths, and so the reason why the helmets
came in is it was like, oh, maybe this will
protect us from not having death in the NFL. And
now we're seeing this increased head trauma that's happening in
this league, in particular because so much of the it's
(24:55):
just a really intense sport, and so much of the
way that you tackle, you're actually it's not that you're
tackling head first, is that you're tackling low into the
body and you're diving and your hands first, but you're
also head first so much of the time too, and
so that just puts your head at like such risk.
And there are so many people that are confused by
this situation, particular to Steph because we don't know if
(25:17):
a guardian cap would have actually helped in this situation.
They really can't tell, They really don't know. And we
also like, really, when you compare something like rugby to
the NFL, rugby's a really intense sport and a really
scary sport too, but the incidence of head trauma is
way less than something like the NFL. And so I
(25:40):
think that's where it's so hard to be a fan
and to watch this because you're so scared, and I
think I don't want to be a broken record, but
we've talked about this on the podcast today. I am
fine if the NFL maintains its rules and the way
that it does things. What I'm not fine with is
that we have a huge lack of misunderstanding and education
(26:02):
about the sport at the youth levels where I think
that we need to be Like, the NFL is an
extreme sport, and the same way all of those red
Bull sports are the same way F one is an
extreme sport. Like when you are signing up to play
tackle football, you are putting yourself at risk and your
parents need to know that and you need to know that.
(26:24):
And it's unique in comparison to any other even comparison
to hockey. It's so unique in comparison to any other sport.
And I think that, to me is so what we're
missing from like a broader football ecosystem situation, because it's
just something that's so a part of American culture and
it's just so something that you do when you're entering
(26:45):
high school is you want to try to make the
football team, you want to try to make the basketball team,
but it's it's kind of football, basketball or baseball is
what you're aiming for if you're a guy in the US.
And so I think that there's just some adjustments to
potentially the rules or potentially like how we're allowing people
to enter playing football period.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Yeah, because you don't even need to hit your head
to get a concussion.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
No, that's a huge misunderstanding and now too whiplash totally.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
And like when we talk about CTE, that's not concussions right,
Like that is just repeated trauma to the head that
isn't necessarily even concussions. So there's just there's and then
you have your acls and your achilles and everything else
like that all added in. That's just part of being
an athlete. And that's also part of playing on turf
and all of those types of things too. So anyway,
(27:35):
I hope that we've like answered your question or your
or added to your ranch just a little bit. I
think the TLDR and all of this is that it's complicated.
I don't know if the NFL as a sport is
ever going to change. I think that as a fan,
there's different things that you love about sports all the time,
(27:55):
and there's different things that you really despise about sports sometimes,
and these had traumas and these types of injuries. I
hate that about any sport that I'm watching. I really
hate seeing any type of injury. But I still love
football for football and what it does and what it brings.
And I love that you're a Detroit Lions fan or
becoming a Detroit Lions fan. I would recommend watching Quarterback
(28:19):
on Netflix for the season. Jared Goff is one of
the featured quarterbacks and they follow the Detroit Lions last
season when they made it all the way to the
conference championship, and it is really great TV.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Yeah it is.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
Sorry, I know you really want to wrap things up
with brain injuries. I feel like part of the scariness
and the uneasiness comes from the fact that we still
know so little. We know nothing, we know nothing, and
the path through recovery isn't always linear, it doesn't always
make sense. Everyone reacts differently, like there's so much unknown,
and I think that's where a lot of the uneasiest
(28:54):
comes from. And in terms of the question should we
be normalizing this in sport, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
I don't know, but.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
It is important to continue to reflect and see what
we can do to make the sport safer, because, like
Ellen said, it's not going in a way. It's so
a mess in American culture that I think it would
be important every year to take a step up and
the people who are involved in the sports to make
sure is there anything we can do to make it
safer and to make sure that tackle football isn't.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Happening at a young age. Yep, yeah, it's all you
can do. I think.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
That is such a great question. Thank you so much,
Thank you for failing in and also thank you for
allowing us a space to talk about it too, because
it was just like a really scary moment for everyone
and we're so happy that everything is looking good for
Norris and the team too. So that marks the end
today's episode. Thank y'all so much for tuning in. We
(29:49):
will be back in your feed with a new podcast
on Tuesday, a very exciting one to drop a little
Easter egg actually, And in the meantime, if you enjoyed
today's episode, rate reviews.
Speaker 5 (29:59):
Subscribe with a friend or sorry, subscribe and then share
with a friend, sit down with a friend and both
hit subscribe at that would be great This episode was
edited by Savannah Held and produced by Alexander Puccio.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
And Lauren Tuscala. Again, I'm Steph Rotts and
Speaker 1 (30:13):
I'm all in his lab and we'll chat with you
soon
Happy Friday, Junior best Sies. I'm so excited that it's
almost the weekend. It has been one of those weeks
and I'm so glad that we're with you entering the weekend.
Welcome or welcome back to another episode of The Gist
of It. Today's Thursday, August fourteenth. We're your co hosts.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I'm Ellen Hyslop and I'm Steph Roths.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
There's a lot of news in the sports world right now,
namely a lot of news around Taylor Swift being on
Travis and Jason Kelsey's podcast New Heights to announce her
new album, and we're going to get to that in
a little bit. We already talked about the Little League
World Series, and today we are talking about something really
(00:47):
cool that's coming out of the WNBA, and that is
them playing a regular season game in Canada. The Seattle
Storm is taking on the Atlanta Dream in the league's
first ever regular season international game. And so we're talking
about this today because yeah, it is a big deal
for Canadian basketball. But I would argue the real angle
(01:09):
to all of this is that this is a big
deal for the league and to women's sports period. As
they're starting to play international friendlies, and we're seeing more
and more of this in the women's sports space. So
whether you're a WNBA fan or not, a Canadian or not,
I think that there's a really interesting business angle to
all of this and what this means in women's sports
(01:31):
that we're going to get into. And then I love
today's personal training sash question. I'm like, really really excited
to dig into that.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
So let's leave some time for that and just probably
dig right into the audible that we need to call
today before we get into that. One big story being
the WNBA and all of the expansion growth, et cetera,
and that is that Timothy Chilame is going to be
playing a professional ping pong player in a movie. And
I am so excited.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
So the movie is called Marty Supreme, Like it's not
just any movie. It's a movie called Marty Supreme, and
Timothy Shalloway has a mustache and is playing a professional
ping pong player. Table tennis really is what we should
be calling it, as the Olympics call it table tennis.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I love that you needed to amend what I said
to include the mustache.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
It's important. I think that is really important to paint
the entire picture. I think also sef because don't you
find And I actually, as I'm saying this, I'm like,
I actually have no idea if this is true, but
don't you find that Timothy Shaalame is an amazing method actor.
And I actually don't know what method acting is, but
I feel like I heard that once and I feel
like him having a mustache and playing Marty Supreme, it
(02:46):
just kind of says to stage a little bit more.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
He really does dive into the roles and really immerse
himself in what he needs to learn. When we're thinking
about the Bob Dylan movie, yes that he did, and
we're thinking about this particular mustache table ten movie. He
has apparently been training four months because he did do
some of his own stunts, and if you've watched.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Table tennis, you know that this is no.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Joke like jumping diving the range emotion you need to
achieve you're like seven to eight feet away from the table.
So he's been training. He has immersed himself in this
like he did Bob Dyla's music.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
That was such a good movie. I'm so glad that
you brought that up, because that's what I was going
to bring up and I think that Timothy shallow May
is this guy who's sneakily athletic, you know what I mean.
You look at him and you look at his stature
and you go, mm, wouldn't be someone I'd necessarily say
would be athletic. But I think he's one of those
people that can just kind of do it all. And
(03:43):
I think that it's really exciting to put some respect
on table tennis's name, especially ahead of LA twenty eight,
because I think people really really enjoy a playing ping
pong for fun, but I think people really enjoy watching
table tennis in the Olympics because we have no idea
how great it can get, at least in North America,
and so being able to watch this is really cool.
(04:05):
And so the script is loosely based on the life
of a professional ping pong player, Marty Reisman, who we
are going to now call Marty Supreme, who reached the
height of his game in the nineteen forties and fifties,
hence the mustache. And it's the most expensive film A
twenty four has ever shot, and it's a seventy million
(04:29):
dollar budget, and in today's economy, I go, what.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
You know, what I think to me, To me, if
I had to maybe stereotype him or pigeonhole him, do
it into something, I would think if I met this
man on the street, I would think, yeah, he could
be into rock climbing, yes, steph, yeah, that's why that's
the vibe.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Then, but strong enough to pull himself up, but light
enough that he doesn't have a lot to pull up exactly.
I love that so much. Also love because we have
to mention it. We do just have to talk about
tailor stuff for one second, and I think the biggest
thing for me Steff okay a her album's coming out
in October. Happy early birthday to us, Thank you so
(05:10):
much tailor stuff. But also b to me, I'm actually
so shocked that she announced this on the New Heights
podcast Are you No?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Why Are I Am? What I needed to say today?
Speaker 3 (05:24):
We recorded Monday's podcast please Yes too early, and then
she released more information. More information trickled out throughout the
evening after we had already recorded, and we by the
time the podcast went live we sound like fools, fools,
so I'm so sorry.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Absolute fools. We were on a fools air and also
because we were like, how could they even announce anything
until Wednesday, but they just gave everything away, the full kit.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Gave it all. Know what people want.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
But so anyway, but I think the biggest thing, and
I saw this on social media Steph is I was like,
that girl's got to be in love with Travis Kelsey.
If she's like, you know what, fuck it, let's announce
this new podcast. Let's announce this new album while we're
on the podcast. She doesn't need that, you know what
I mean? She could do whatever the hell she wants
in announcing her twelfth album, but she's like, no, what baby,
It would be so fun. We did this on the
(06:12):
podcast together. You guys need some exture ratings. Why don't
we do it.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
It's kind of the word not entanglement and something else
where you like really start to I messure live with
your like the two lives together when you partner anyhow,
that's what it feels like.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Asking each other for words or for phrases or for sayings.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Is so dangerous. Yeah, you don't know anything.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
It's really dangerous territory. But anyway, I'm so excited for
a new sports movie. Go go, Timmy. We love you know.
I love a sports movie. The sports movies hate to
see me coming, so I'm.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Really really really looking forward to this.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
All right, it's time to discuss into the main topic
for today, and that is the fact that tomorrow was
ten pm Eastern WNBA game is going to be taking
place in Canada, in Vancouver in Rogers Arena, which is
where the NHL's Vancouver Connects typically play.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
It's huge, major, huge major, a big deal, and this
is a monumental moment. Again, yes for Canada basketball, but
I want to say it one more time, this is
a huge moment for women's sports period and for the
WNBA period. Actually playing a real regular season game internationally.
In the past, there's been WNBA Canada games that Seph
(07:31):
and I have had the privilege of going to, but
they've all been pre season more so exhibition games. And
actually playing a regular season game I think does show
that they are taking Canada seriously as a basketball market,
as they should, because they're seeing a lot of opportunities
in the NBA with the Toronto Raptors and Canada as
(07:52):
really this basketball market. But we're going to get to
that in a minute. I know you want to talk
about the Canadiana of it all. Stuff But when I
look more broad at sports, the best leagues, maybe not
the best leagues, but some of the top performing leagues
are the ones that have the opportunity to go international
to drive fandom even further. We look at European soccer
(08:14):
and the matches that they'll sometimes play in North America.
We look at the NFL playing games over in Europe,
in London and in Germany. We think about the NHL
playing games over in Sweden. We had some Women's Super
League teams come over and play I think they were
still exhibitions though against Gotham. And so when I think
about the WNBA playing a regular season game at a
(08:35):
new place and quote unquote an international market today, I'm saying, okay, cool,
they're taking a page out of men's sports books when
we're looking at the NHL, where we're looking at the NFL,
and they're saying, how can we grow fandom in new
places so that it supports our league because they have
finally such a great foundation in the US. And so
(08:56):
I just think that that, to me is the story here,
is that they are having an international game that matters
for the regular season. And if they're doing this for Canada,
could they one day be like the NFL and head
over to Europe that already boasts incredible women's basketball leagues
and try to drum up some fandom there too. It's
(09:16):
just the start of something, let the start of something new.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
We could say, I really don't want to discount what
you just said, and I just need to make a
quick joke. And I absolutely love how a three hour
distance game from Seattle is an international game.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
No, no, you're right, I know, but it is.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
It's a different country. It's just yeah, no, one hundred percent. Sorry,
I just needed to make that jug the job, the joke,
like it's.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Fair but technically it's international.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
However, was that the exhibition games that were previously hosted
in Canada were both one hundred percent sold out, so
in Toronto and Edmonton, and so the appetite is here.
They demonstrated that, and from twenty twenty three to twenty
twenty four, when those exhibition games were being held, the
WNBA viewership in Canada jumped one hundred and seventy five percent.
That's good business, right, And we all know the Toronto
(10:06):
Tempo is going to be one of the new expansion
teams in twenty twenty six, So it doesn't feel like
a huge leap here right to maybe play a regular
season game in Canada.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
No, it really doesn't feel like it. And maybe they'll
start to play some more regular season games in potential
expansion markets. We also know that the WNBA is expanding
to Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia very soon in twenty twenty eight,
twenty twenty nine, and twenty thirty, respectively. So the league
is growing and they're finding ways to grow their fandom too.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
So we're thinking about expansion here. We're thinking about the
WNBA growing, and of course the WCS Canada as a
hotbed for potential future teams. I'm not quite sure if
we will get a second team personally, since the NBA
doesn't have a second team.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
I doubt it. I doubt it.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
But you never really know where they're where they're going,
and you don't really know if they're going to let
the Connecticut Sun relocate, like we talked about on a
previous podcast.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Following that, You've been the tea that came out today
on Wednesday. No, So it's so basically when the WNBA
and everyone was kind of reviewing what could happen with
the Connecticut Son and the purchase. They didn't say that
they had moving rights at the same time when the
(11:26):
initial kind of group got together to buy the Connecticut Sun.
And so now there's multiple bids on the table to
buy the Connecticut Sun because now location and movement is
on the table. So even moving them from like Connecticut
into Boston is something that the league additionally has to
review on top of an ownership change. And so now
(11:49):
like Houston is in the mix for the Connecticut Son
because they didn't really sort that out and they approved
a potential new ownership change. So it's all, it's all
very interesting. We don't have time to like fully give
the sorry today, but you did open a can of
worms just with the Connecticut Sun, is that there's a
lot of nuance here of where the Connecticut Sun could
(12:11):
end up because those were two separate issues of buying
the team and then also where they're potentially needing to locate.
So when we say wherever the heck the Connecticut Sun land,
we truly mean wherever the heck the Connecticut Son may
land based off of the approval of the ownership group
and the location.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Okay, wow, sorry, de Rail.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
One thing we do know, yeah, because this has been
confirmed by the league is that the Toronto Tempo when
they join next year in twenty twenty six, they won't
be playing all of their regular season home games in Toronto.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
They are going to be playing what the league said,
home games all across Canada in twenty six, and there's
been confirmation that there'll be games in Vancouver and Montreal.
I don't know if we'll see another city because to me,
it's like Chuck chick check. Maybe they'll do Edmonton or
Calgary or something in the Prairies.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
That's so interesting. I think what's cool too, is that
I think the WNBA is really recognizing Canada as a hotbed.
The chief Growth Officer and friend of the Giscllei Edison,
said that the country's passion for women's sports is why
the league keeps coming back. I think that you look
at the PWHL and the success we've seen there, the
Northern Super League and the success we've seen there. But
(13:25):
also when you think about it, Canada's population is what
now Steph likes thirty three million. It's about the same
size as California from a population perspective, maybe slightly bigger
than California. California is an exceptionally important market to sports,
and so when you look at the opportunity, it makes
(13:46):
sense to me how the WNBA is recognizing that the
Toronto Tempo isn't Toronto's team, no Canadian team maybe outside
of the PWHL and the NHL is like truly Toronto's team.
Raptors are Canada's team, the Toronto Blue Jays are Canada's team,
and the WNBA is so smart by marketing the Tempo
(14:07):
as Canada's team, not Toronto's team.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
With that being said, Vancouver often wrote for Seattle sports
teams because they are so close together, with the exception
of course, if they have an actual team. So we're
not talking about the NHL, we're not talking about the
PWHAHL that will be getting a team in this upcoming season.
It's more Baseball, NFL and oh gosh, what's the other one.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Where they don't have a team, and basically.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
All of them, and I think stef that's why they've
chosen the Seattle Storm to be a part of this
regular season game. I think that what's interesting with this
regular season game though, is that it's the Seattle Storm
as well as the Atlanta Dream but actually, no Canadian
players will be featured in this game. Generally, in the past,
when we looked at the exhibition games, there was at
(14:58):
least one Canadian playing Keya Nurse who's now with the
Chicago skuy not playing Bridget Carlson with the Minnesota Lynx.
I'm still reeling over an A Fisa Collier and then
Aliah Edwards of the Connecticut Son she is, which also
still feels weird saying that she's with Connecticut instead of
the Washington Mystics. Anyway, it feels weird. So I think
(15:19):
that this is really interesting that the WNBA is saying
like we actually don't need the Canadians to host a
regular season game. The WNBA and Seattle and Atlanta can
stand on their own.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
What I would love to know from listeners if you
live in Vancouver, are you gonna cheer for the Toronto
Tempo or are you gonna maybe continue to cheer for
the Seattle Storm. I would absolutely love to know.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
I think it also depends. I think it depends on
the players in my opinion too. If Seattle Storm was
still Rocket with Meka Gloom, Mackay and Skyler Diggins, like,
how do you cheer against them? And can you cheer
for both of them? Like Mecca gloom Mackay is just
perfection to me, and like is one of the most
underrated or under respected players. And then when we look
(16:01):
at Atlanta, the Vancouver crowd gets to see potentially Britney Greiner,
who's working her way back from neck injury, but also
Alicia Gray, like she has been the it girl for
the Atlanta Dream. She's averaging twenty two point five points
per game this August, and so I think she's going
to be the main player who Seattle's going to have
to figure out to shut down. But I think the
(16:25):
fans are in for something really, really cool.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
It's time for our personal training SASH. This is where
we'll answer your heart any questions about anything, and we
mean anything in.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
The sports world.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
We would also welcome any sort of hot takes or
commentary that you'd like to provide us and have us
react to.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
As per usual, if you want to be featured in
an episode, call us and leave us a voicemail at
one four three seven five six four five five seven nine.
You can click on it in the show notes and
you'll call us or you can email us at pod
at the jisports dot com or DM Steph and I
on Instagram at ellen Ethagists or at Sephanie Rots. We
love all three methods, but today we're so excited because
(17:14):
we got an amazing voicemail and we love hearing your voices.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
It's so awesome.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
We are taking a question from Kamara and Atlanta, Georgia.
She raised such great points about the push and pull
of being an NFL fan, and the danger of the
sport too, and how dangerous football can be. We shorten
our voicemail just a little bit to get it all
in there because you had so many amazing thoughts, so
(17:40):
we brought in the key parts that you were talking about.
So without further ado, here's our personal training SESSH today. Hi.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
My name is Kamara. I'm living in Atlanta, Georgia, but
grew up in Chicago actually Western several booth parts. I've
fallen out of washing the NFL because of Colin Kaepernick
stuff and other things, et cetera. But because the Lions
have gotten a little better and because my girlfriend is
really into the NFL, I've gotten more into it. And
(18:11):
this year I went to the preseason game this past
Saturday in Atlanta, where the player got a Lion's player
got what looked like seriously injured. I know that, thank
God that he's you know, apparently he left the hospital
(18:31):
and he has feeling in all his limbs. But being
in the stadium I have like full big chills thinking
about it. Ever since then, I found it really scary
and nauseous to think even about watching a game again.
I just wanted to bring in some experts because me
(18:52):
and my partner got into kind of a a stand
not a standstill, but like you didn't come to any
answers about it, and I was just wondering what you
thought about continuing to support a sport that is so
life or death. Should we be normalizing this sport? Anyways,
(19:15):
thank you so much. I love your episodes, especially by
THEW and Go Dream and thanks again.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Ye, thank you so much for this question. And I
do feel like it is a hard question to answer,
and so maybe let's start first with some background for
folks who aren't fully up to speed with the incidents
that you're talking about.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
You want to start with Alan.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Yes, let's do it. So last Friday, during a preseason game,
Detroit's line safety Maurice Norris was carted off the field
in an ambulance in the fourth quarter after attempting to
tackle Atlanta Falcons running back Nathan Carter. The game was
suspended after this play because both teams and coaches were
very rattled by this hit and what happened after it.
(19:58):
The lines and Falcons held hands to show support for
Morris as he left the fields. Norris did regain all
movement and feeling in his body, and he is officially
in concussion protocol. Did you have a chance to see
the hit, Steph, Have you seen this? I would like
not to, Okay, I just I want to paint the
picture just a little bit more because I do think
(20:18):
what we're getting to and what like she's getting to,
is that when he was hit, unfortunately, his head kind
of put came back, his neck came back, and he
was having full body convulsions in a seizure on the fields.
And it was really scary, and I think something that
(20:39):
so many people haven't seen beforehand, and I think that's
why so many people were really shook. The players were shook,
the coaches, the fans, everyone. It was really scary and
I think that some would argue that it was life threatening,
and we've seen this in recent years.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
In the NFL.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
We talked about it in twenty three when Bill's safety
Tomorrow Hamlein heart stopped on the field after a hit
in twenty twenty three. I don't know if that was
because of a hit for that one in particular, Miami
Dolphins quarterback to a tongue of Iiloa has had at
least three diagnosed concussions over the last two years, and
there was discussion of him potentially leaving the NFL because
(21:22):
of his concussions and him wanting to still be there
for his family fully in his full mental capacity as
he continued to age. And so there's a lot of
things to get into here. I know that you have thought, Sef,
and I have thought one thing before we get into
all of this. We're not doctors. We are fully just fans.
(21:44):
We are not great at sciences either of us. We're
not in the medical field, but we do our best
to stay educated and read content. One of my favorite
follows on TikTok is this neurosurgeon who was by Lady
Spinedock on TikTok. She has two point five million followers,
(22:06):
and a lot of people follow her because she has
a family. She's somehow working these insane hours all the time.
She's literally completing surgery on brain and she's a neurosurgeon.
But she also breaks down things like this in a
really approachable way and in layman's terms. And so when
(22:26):
I saw this highlight Steff, because I was oh eating
lobster rolls on Friday night, I immediately went to Lady Spinedock
and then also researched some other sources online and she
gave a fantastic breakdown of what happened in this play.
And so I'll try to find the link to her
TikTok and post in the show notes for ease of access.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Do you have a Cole's notes? I'm so curious, totally
hanging out.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
But yeah, the Cole's notes really was that it was
the way that he was making the hit, or try
to make the hit, the way that his head and
his neck basically reacted to the body of his opponent.
His neck actually came up in a really unnatural way, essentially,
(23:15):
and had this reaction through his body and his spine
that sent him into these seizures, and his body was
reacting to that really intense hit.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Yeah, I have a really tough time. Let's get into
the opinion piece. Yeah, good.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Perhaps I have a really hard time with men's talking
and with NFL. I still watch both of them, but
I do kind of do it through my hands some days,
kind of like a horror film film, because I do
find it really hard to watch such brutal hits, such violence.
(23:51):
And that's why I also worry, and I'm such a
staunch advocate for the PWHL not hitting in the same
capacity or encouraging fighting in the same capacity is the NHL,
because I do think over time it's a slippery slope
and it's really really hard for me as someone who's
had multiple concussions, and Allen, I.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Know you have as well, to watch this stuff over
and over again.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
I find the NFL really tough because I think I
love the NFL is my favorite league. I love watching football,
It's my favorite sport to watch. However, I do think
that there's always a way to make the NFL more
safe and taking out these types of tackles. I think
with the NFL when it initially started, there wasn't helmets
(24:35):
in the same way that we have helmets today, and
there were deaths, and so the reason why the helmets
came in is it was like, oh, maybe this will
protect us from not having death in the NFL. And
now we're seeing this increased head trauma that's happening in
this league, in particular because so much of the it's
(24:55):
just a really intense sport, and so much of the
way that you tackle, you're actually it's not that you're
tackling head first, is that you're tackling low into the
body and you're diving and your hands first, but you're
also head first so much of the time too, and
so that just puts your head at like such risk.
And there are so many people that are confused by
this situation, particular to Steph because we don't know if
(25:17):
a guardian cap would have actually helped in this situation.
They really can't tell, They really don't know. And we
also like, really, when you compare something like rugby to
the NFL, rugby's a really intense sport and a really
scary sport too, but the incidence of head trauma is
way less than something like the NFL. And so I
(25:40):
think that's where it's so hard to be a fan
and to watch this because you're so scared, and I
think I don't want to be a broken record, but
we've talked about this on the podcast today. I am
fine if the NFL maintains its rules and the way
that it does things. What I'm not fine with is
that we have a huge lack of misunderstanding and education
(26:02):
about the sport at the youth levels where I think
that we need to be Like, the NFL is an
extreme sport, and the same way all of those red
Bull sports are the same way F one is an
extreme sport. Like when you are signing up to play
tackle football, you are putting yourself at risk and your
parents need to know that and you need to know that.
(26:24):
And it's unique in comparison to any other even comparison
to hockey. It's so unique in comparison to any other sport.
And I think that, to me is so what we're
missing from like a broader football ecosystem situation, because it's
just something that's so a part of American culture and
it's just so something that you do when you're entering
(26:45):
high school is you want to try to make the
football team, you want to try to make the basketball team,
but it's it's kind of football, basketball or baseball is
what you're aiming for if you're a guy in the US.
And so I think that there's just some adjustments to
potentially the rules or potentially like how we're allowing people
to enter playing football period.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Yeah, because you don't even need to hit your head
to get a concussion.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
No, that's a huge misunderstanding and now too whiplash totally.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
And like when we talk about CTE, that's not concussions right,
Like that is just repeated trauma to the head that
isn't necessarily even concussions. So there's just there's and then
you have your acls and your achilles and everything else
like that all added in. That's just part of being
an athlete. And that's also part of playing on turf
and all of those types of things too. So anyway,
(27:35):
I hope that we've like answered your question or your
or added to your ranch just a little bit. I
think the TLDR and all of this is that it's complicated.
I don't know if the NFL as a sport is
ever going to change. I think that as a fan,
there's different things that you love about sports all the time,
(27:55):
and there's different things that you really despise about sports sometimes,
and these had traumas and these types of injuries. I
hate that about any sport that I'm watching. I really
hate seeing any type of injury. But I still love
football for football and what it does and what it brings.
And I love that you're a Detroit Lions fan or
becoming a Detroit Lions fan. I would recommend watching Quarterback
(28:19):
on Netflix for the season. Jared Goff is one of
the featured quarterbacks and they follow the Detroit Lions last
season when they made it all the way to the
conference championship, and it is really great TV.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Yeah it is.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
Sorry, I know you really want to wrap things up
with brain injuries. I feel like part of the scariness
and the uneasiness comes from the fact that we still
know so little. We know nothing, we know nothing, and
the path through recovery isn't always linear, it doesn't always
make sense. Everyone reacts differently, like there's so much unknown,
and I think that's where a lot of the uneasiest
(28:54):
comes from. And in terms of the question should we
be normalizing this in sport, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
I don't know, but.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
It is important to continue to reflect and see what
we can do to make the sport safer, because, like
Ellen said, it's not going in a way. It's so
a mess in American culture that I think it would
be important every year to take a step up and
the people who are involved in the sports to make
sure is there anything we can do to make it
safer and to make sure that tackle football isn't.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Happening at a young age. Yep, yeah, it's all you
can do. I think.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
That is such a great question. Thank you so much,
Thank you for failing in and also thank you for
allowing us a space to talk about it too, because
it was just like a really scary moment for everyone
and we're so happy that everything is looking good for
Norris and the team too. So that marks the end
today's episode. Thank y'all so much for tuning in. We
(29:49):
will be back in your feed with a new podcast
on Tuesday, a very exciting one to drop a little
Easter egg actually, And in the meantime, if you enjoyed
today's episode, rate reviews.
Speaker 5 (29:59):
Subscribe with a friend or sorry, subscribe and then share
with a friend, sit down with a friend and both
hit subscribe at that would be great This episode was
edited by Savannah Held and produced by Alexander Puccio.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
And Lauren Tuscala. Again, I'm Steph Rotts and
Speaker 1 (30:13):
I'm all in his lab and we'll chat with you
soon
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