July 16, 2026 • 18 mins
In the fourth hour, Dick Fain talks to Seattle Storm guard and 2026 eighth overall draft pick Flau’jae Johnson about her rookie season and growth, then Seattle Paddling club Survivor SAKE Captain Luciana Bosio and Assistant Coach J.T. Thompson joins Dick.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I was a rushed shot in great defense, Guy Seattle
tick three. There it is Blache Johnson twenty five points on.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
The game and the Storm are knocking on the door. Oh.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
An amazing highlight from yesterday's game. Flasee Johnson just continues
an unbelievable rookie season. On Monday, she had a career
high four steals, and then yesterday twenty five point six rebounds,
four assists, and she joins us here on ninety three
point three KJRFM.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Flase how are you?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
I'm doing good. I'm doing good.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
You know, You've been amazing to watch on the floor.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
And the thing that just really comes out and is
obvious to me, and it's obvious to everyone who watches
you play basketball. Your energy and love for the game
are maybe unmatched in this league. I'm not even I'm
not even joking. I mean you are a joy to watch,
not only because you're a great talent, but you play
with that joy. You get me hyped on the call
(00:59):
as you can tell there. Where does that joy come from?
How long have you played like that?
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Yeah? I think just you know, just going out there
and having fun. I think just knowing that my energy
is big on the court, and you need that kind
of energy, especially like when you're defending best players in
the world every night, night in and night out, you
got to have that kind of energy. So I don't know,
I just take pride in doing that for the team.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Is that the toughest adjustment to the league is knowing
that each night you're literally guarding one of the best
players in the world at your position.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Whereas when you were.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
In college, yes, you guarded really good players, but you
also had some nights that you could kind of take
off defensively a little bit because you didn't have a
great player going against you.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
No, literally, And that's what I take a lot of
pride in on the defensive end, just knowing taking that
challenge like y'all can guard you, know what I'm saying,
the best player of the other team. So I think
taking that pride and doing that is something that I've
been doing since like the start of the season and
the match up like griding you know, Page Beckers and
wanting to match up with like Jackie Young and all
(02:05):
of those great players. I feel like I take pride
in doing that.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
You got another one coming up that we'll talk about
in a little bit coming up tomorrow night. But this
is the longest road trip of your career. It's finally
over tomorrow. I mean this has been a five game
road trip taking over like two weeks. You don't go
through that at LSU. You don't have five game road
trips for two weeks. So how have you been able
to keep your energy up and you know, just keep
(02:28):
that passion for the game up when you're away from
home so long?
Speaker 3 (02:32):
No, it's been Oh, it's been very long, but I'm
not gonna lie. It's been fun. Like it's been like
like fun, like wow, like I'm really a professional. I
get to travel all these places you feel. I mean,
we get private flight, we don got to go through
tsa five star hotels, Like I ain't mad. I make
sure every three that I go to. I got a
gym to go shoot in in the morning, and I'm
good to go. So I think for me it was
(02:53):
about like preparing for this road trip, like how can
I stand on my routine and stay consistent? You know
what I'm saying, That's my word is just consistency, consistency, consistency.
So I think it's been so fun, like I've got
to explore city, different culture, like it's been super cool.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Storm rookie star Flagia Johnson joining us on ninety three
point three KJRFM. For those that haven't seen her play,
give you some insight to what she's doing. Fourth in
scoring for a rookie and Storm history at twelve points
per game, and the Storm have had some pretty dang
actually said thirteen points a game now, Storm.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Have had some pretty dang good rookies.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Second rookie in Storm history to average twelve points and
five rebounds through the first twenty five games of her career.
The only one other to do that is Brianna Stewart.
She has had an unbelievable rookie season. And you talk
about going on the road, but it almost it must
almost seem like home too, because you have so many
fans in every arena because you got one one point
(03:46):
five million dollars or a million Instagram followers because of
your rap career and your basketball career. So do you
do you kind of feel a little bit like a
rock star when you go out on the road.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Definitely, I definitely feel in love. I'm blessed, you know,
to be able to go to arenas and people who
have made signs and they've made shirts and they've you know,
spent their time and their money to come, you know,
see me, And I didn't mean so much to me,
Like they kind of called my name super fast, like
when they do our uh when they do our player
introduction because they know the crowd goes third up. But
(04:21):
it's just very fun like the flock. You know what
I'm saying, My fan based the flock. I love them.
They followed me everywhere. You know what I'm saying. They
show love. So shout out to the fans that's always
showing up. Man.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
You went off last week for twenty three in a
storm win in La. You scored the first thirteen points
of the game.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
KD was in the house.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Was that a little I mentioned on the broadcast? I
was like, that might be a little extra motivation for
flaj Ac.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
You spent a bunch of time with them after the game.
So what type of motivation was Kevin Durant for you?
Sitting in the front row.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
It was crazy. I didn't even see KD until like
after I hit the thirteen points and I was like, KD,
bring up, So yeah, I started sitting a little bit.
I was like, oh yeah, I'm about to shoot that
again like KD and the building is up.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
That is awesome.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
What are you to attribute the rise of popularity to
women's basketball too, because I mean, over the last two or.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Three years, it has just absolutely gone through the roof.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Man. I think it's just amazing basketball. I think we
now have like superstars in this league and stars and
their own right, and I just think, you know, I
like to say, like I got to see that emergence happen,
like during the tweeny twenty three college basketball season. That's
when everything kind of like erupted for women's college basketball.
(05:39):
And I think it just went to the pros as
the stars going and I think it's been crazy and
you would think, like, nah, it's just like they're just
having a moment, But it's not a moment, Like it's
a real movement. Everywhere. Every time we go play, an
arena is sold out, like you know what I mean.
So I think it's important for us to keep going
to game for it respect in the past and just
(06:00):
kind of imburse in the future with it.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Johnson joined us.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
You know, I followed the WNBA on a daily basis,
but a lot of my listeners on the radio show, don't.
I mean, they're just sports radio listeners. They know certain
WNBA names, and certainly one of the names that they
know is Kaitlyn Clark, who you're taking on tomorrow. You
mentioned guarding the likes of Paige Becker's and you know,
Jackie Young and.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Some of those players.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
How much you know some people will say, hey, it's
a result the rise of women's college back or women's
basketball's result of Caitlyn Clark.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
How accurate do you think that assessment is?
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Yeah, I can agree to that. I could just say
she brought a lot of eyes to women's basketball, But
you gotta think we gotta think about the legends that
kind of built it, you know what I mean. You
gotta think about the legends that built it, you know.
So I think, of course, like she her popularity has
definitely helped, but there's a lot of superstars that are
attributed to that, and I think I think it's gonna
(06:53):
be more. I think when Juju comes out of college,
it's gonna bring away like that as well. So I
don't know, I think she definitely, she definitely to contribute,
though for sure, you.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Guys have the youngest starting five in the WNBA. How
exciting is that now I know the wins. The wins
aren't coming in year number one so far, but this
was kind of a reset type season to build what
the future was gonna look like. How exciting is that
when you look at players like Awa Farm and Don
Maloga and you still have Zie in her prime and
(07:22):
what Tea is doing at the point guard position.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Just talk about the youth and what you think the
Seattle Storm could be in a year or two.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
I think we could be amazing. I think everybody sees.
I think everybody sees like the spurts of it, you
know what I'm saying, when we put it all together.
I think they see when it's really good and it's like, wow,
these girls are unbelievable. And I think people can see like, Okay,
they're still really young, you know what I mean, And
some of the decisions we make and some of the
things we do. But it's gonna take you just a
little bit of chemistry learning to play together.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
You know.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
You know I would speak Spend as Don Street speaks French.
You know, it's a little bit of language barrier. So
I think now like just learning each other and knowing
like where they want to go, knowing like how they
want the ball, when they want the ball, and that
stuff you only can learn through repetition and practice. And
so I think the off season is going to be
real big for us, but also just just these games
we're playing together, but we're trying to win. We all competitors.
(08:13):
We ain't finished. Sit here and just be like, yeah,
we know it's a new year, new team, new coach,
new everything, we rebuilding, but let's go win. So I
played this second half of the season like that's what
our mind on.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Yeah, you got about twenty games left or so, So
what are the goals for the rest of the year
for you individually?
Speaker 2 (08:29):
I mean, you're you're a lock for the All Rookie team.
Let's forget about that. I mean, you're going to get
on the All Rookie team.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
But what are the goals for you individually and also
as a team down the stretch.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Here, I'm trying to get on that defensive team, like
I told you earlier, Like, okay, I take pride and garden. Yeah,
in fact, I take pride and guarding the best players.
Every night I had a career high and still the
other night I'm like I can do a little bit
more of that. My blocks have been crazy, you know,
and just all just being when I'm on the court,
Like I feel like I can cause and rehab it overall.
(08:59):
So I think, uh, the defensive team is something that
I want to I want to advocate to. Yeah, because
that's something I really take product. I'm really good at it.
Like I feel like, shoot, I'm I'm one thing about me.
I'm gonna take that challenge and I'm gonna I'm gonna
take it personal. So yeah, that's something I'm looking forward to.
But also double digit wins man, Like, Okay, double digit wins, bro,
(09:20):
we got we gotta get some more wins. So that's
something I'm pushing for.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
I like that. Hey, before we let you go, most
important question? What song?
Speaker 1 (09:27):
If somebody has never heard a Flage Johnson rap, what
song do they need to download?
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Go ahead, download on the Way on the Way. It's
on my R and B project. It's called Flaw and B.
But that song is called on the Way.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Okay, I'm gonna do it right now. Hey, we appreciate
it so much. Can't wait to see you when you
get back to Climbate Pledge. Thanks for joining me.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Appreciated man, see you soon, you bet.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Flaje Johnson just absolutely unbelievables you can tell, unbelievable personality
and a great eight basketball player. We'll come back with
more on ninety three point three KJRFM.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
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Speaker 1 (10:25):
And welcome back Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM.
Speaker 6 (10:30):
Boy, I've been doing this a long time.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
The closest I've ever come to talking about boat racing
is I think I've covered seafair a couple of times.
I definitely covered a number of Windermere cups with the
crew over at the University of Washington. What I've never
done so this is exciting for me is talk about
dragon boat racing.
Speaker 6 (10:49):
But that's what we're gonna do right now.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Lucciana Bozzio, our a friend from are a long time
ago here at these studios, is now the co captain
of Survivor Sakage wined with JT. Thompson, the assistant coach
for Sake Paddling Club Luciana.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
How are you.
Speaker 7 (11:06):
I'm doing great. Thank you for having us, Dick, you bet,
it's very exciting. Can you believe that in all the
years that I've been in iHeartMedia working with you guys,
I never went on air in kJ R.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Now we got a first for both of us and JT.
Thanks for joining us. How are you?
Speaker 5 (11:25):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (11:26):
Great?
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Thanks?
Speaker 4 (11:26):
I do have some radio experience though, so we're all qualified.
Speaker 6 (11:30):
Now perfect?
Speaker 1 (11:31):
All right, Well, let's let's talk about the Lucian Let's
start with you tell us, because let's face it, I
think the majority of the listening public has no idea
what dragon boat racing is and certainly what Survivor Sake is,
So give us, give us the lowdown.
Speaker 7 (11:45):
Well, first off, Survivor SAKI is a dragon boat team
with practice on Lake Washington off of Leishai Marina. And
what's particular about a team is that we're all cancer survivors. Wow,
and we are part of Team Survivor Northwest. But like
you said, this is the first time you talk about
(12:05):
dragon boating and so what is a dragon boat And well,
it's a very long boat that holds twenty paddlers on
ten on each side. It has a drummer at the
front that is keeping the piece, and it has a
tillery in the back making sure we go in the
right direction. And we just race against each other. And
it's a fun, fun sport to do.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
And you've got some exciting coming up in September, which
is why we have you on. What do we got
coming up, Luciana.
Speaker 7 (12:33):
Well, my team, not me, I wasn't there, but last
year they competed in Florida and they qualify to race
in Taiwan for an international club race championship. It's the
Club Crew World Championship in Taiwan. And we are training
like crazy to make a good excite, to set up
(12:57):
a good example there.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Well, coach Tom's and you're a very accomplished rower, part
of the World dragon Boat Racing Championships last year in Germany,
so you're heading back this time to Taiwan. Talk about
how you qualified. How many people issake sending to the
World Championships and how did they qualify?
Speaker 4 (13:16):
Oh, great questions. Yes, we're sending forty two of us,
including supporters just bringing our paddles. The boats are already
there in case anybody who's wondering. But it's still an
expensive trip, so we're doing a little fundraising on this also.
But to be on the team like this, you just
come to practice and you listen to the coach and
(13:37):
you learn how the mechanics of your body want to
work with this. We have a prescribed paddle stroke. We
have good coaching as well as encouragement from the family
you build as you do this. The team went through
the rigorous process of training and then we do some
skill testing with the coaches as far as proving our
(13:59):
strength in our duration to be able to go for
two to three to four minutes all out, and in
our age group, that's not easy. So we do a
lot of off water training too.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
So Luciana talk about the fundraising here. JT brought up fundraising.
You guys definitely need help. So how does that work
and what type of events can we can we help with?
Speaker 7 (14:21):
Well, we need to make sure everyone that wanted to
go could go, and sometimes money is an issue, I
mean for most of us, and this is not a
cheap trip. So we started hand dying silks, cars I
mean us, the paddlers were doing that, and we are
selling them to everyone that will buy them from us.
(14:44):
We also came up with the idea of doing three
three deep printed battle so cool and pendants and those
are very popular. And we have an event coming up
on August ninth from five to seven pm. We have
(15:04):
an event for all the paddling community of western Washington.
It's a yacht rot dance party at Wats Brewing Company.
And that is supposed to be an amazing event because
for the first time we're gonna meet with the people
we usually compete. By this time, we're not gonna be competing.
We're just gonna be wearing plain clothes and diving.
Speaker 6 (15:26):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Watts Brewing Company, August ninth, five to seven o'clock. For information,
you can go to club sake, C, l U, B,
S A k E dot com and JT.
Speaker 6 (15:37):
What are you looking for from the listeners? What can
we do to help?
Speaker 5 (15:41):
Well?
Speaker 4 (15:41):
We do have a donation tab on that website. We
love that well. We also want to participation. We love
new paddlers. We have great ways, easy ways to join
and try this. Coming up August fifteenth, we have a
new paddler opportunity starts at noon and anybody from the
(16:03):
Seattle area community. Actually we get guests from out of
town sometimes for this, but you're welcome to join us.
And we have special sessions set aside to teach and
learn how to participate in the sport. And you know,
I started doing this as as how to get in
shape as a as an older person, but found a
family in a community that's, as you said, elevated me
(16:25):
into a world championship competition system that now is a
retired person absolutely enjoying and sharing this as much as.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
I can, So Lucian to tell us why we should
be a paddler. What do you like most about the
paddling with Survivor sake and sake in general.
Speaker 7 (16:43):
Well, first off, if this is a sport you can
practice at any age. It's not like in soccer, like
right now with the World Cup, everybody's talking about it
is you are thirty eight and you're already old. With
dragon voting, we have paddlers well into their nineties. So
this is the sport anyone can practice. You just need
(17:05):
to want.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
To do it.
Speaker 7 (17:07):
And partly with Survivor for me, has been the syrap
I didn't know I needed to be honest hanging out
with women that know what I went through. I had
breast cancer. When when I was working right next to
you and I heard media and it.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Was twenty eighteen, I didn't.
Speaker 7 (17:26):
Know I needed the support of other people. And when
I found this team, I really found my family. And
it's all because of klat Tacky and Team Survivor Northwest.
Really they really meant a difference in my life.
Speaker 6 (17:39):
That's awesome. And JT. Finally, what's the best part about
coaching this?
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Oh seeing a paddler that when their eyes change, look
up at you and go, I get it. When you've done,
You've communicated and put together the right words at the
right time for somebody and they have just this little
tiny click in their head and they say, I get it, coach,
And they look at you with those eyes and they
and they call you coach. That means it means a
(18:05):
lot to me.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Well, that's it's great stuff. So we can help out.
We can either help out by donations. You can go
to the Brewery Party on August the ninth, five to
seven at Watts Brewing Company. You can also join and
all the information Clubsake dot com, club s A k
E dot com and teams Survivor NW dot org. Guys,
(18:26):
it's great to talk to you, Luciana, j T. Best
of luck in the in the World Championships.
Speaker 7 (18:31):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
Sake you bet, JT.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Thompson, the coach, and Luciano Bassio, the co captain of Survivor.
Speaker 6 (18:38):
Sake here on ninety three point three kJ R f
M
I was a rushed shot in great defense, Guy Seattle
tick three. There it is Blache Johnson twenty five points on.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
The game and the Storm are knocking on the door. Oh.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
An amazing highlight from yesterday's game. Flasee Johnson just continues
an unbelievable rookie season. On Monday, she had a career
high four steals, and then yesterday twenty five point six rebounds,
four assists, and she joins us here on ninety three
point three KJRFM.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Flase how are you?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
I'm doing good. I'm doing good.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
You know, You've been amazing to watch on the floor.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
And the thing that just really comes out and is
obvious to me, and it's obvious to everyone who watches
you play basketball. Your energy and love for the game
are maybe unmatched in this league. I'm not even I'm
not even joking. I mean you are a joy to watch,
not only because you're a great talent, but you play
with that joy. You get me hyped on the call
(00:59):
as you can tell there. Where does that joy come from?
How long have you played like that?
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Yeah? I think just you know, just going out there
and having fun. I think just knowing that my energy
is big on the court, and you need that kind
of energy, especially like when you're defending best players in
the world every night, night in and night out, you
got to have that kind of energy. So I don't know,
I just take pride in doing that for the team.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Is that the toughest adjustment to the league is knowing
that each night you're literally guarding one of the best
players in the world at your position.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Whereas when you were.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
In college, yes, you guarded really good players, but you
also had some nights that you could kind of take
off defensively a little bit because you didn't have a
great player going against you.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
No, literally, And that's what I take a lot of
pride in on the defensive end, just knowing taking that
challenge like y'all can guard you, know what I'm saying,
the best player of the other team. So I think
taking that pride and doing that is something that I've
been doing since like the start of the season and
the match up like griding you know, Page Beckers and
wanting to match up with like Jackie Young and all
(02:05):
of those great players. I feel like I take pride
in doing that.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
You got another one coming up that we'll talk about
in a little bit coming up tomorrow night. But this
is the longest road trip of your career. It's finally
over tomorrow. I mean this has been a five game
road trip taking over like two weeks. You don't go
through that at LSU. You don't have five game road
trips for two weeks. So how have you been able
to keep your energy up and you know, just keep
(02:28):
that passion for the game up when you're away from
home so long?
Speaker 3 (02:32):
No, it's been Oh, it's been very long, but I'm
not gonna lie. It's been fun. Like it's been like
like fun, like wow, like I'm really a professional. I
get to travel all these places you feel. I mean,
we get private flight, we don got to go through
tsa five star hotels, Like I ain't mad. I make
sure every three that I go to. I got a
gym to go shoot in in the morning, and I'm
good to go. So I think for me it was
(02:53):
about like preparing for this road trip, like how can
I stand on my routine and stay consistent? You know
what I'm saying, That's my word is just consistency, consistency, consistency.
So I think it's been so fun, like I've got
to explore city, different culture, like it's been super cool.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Storm rookie star Flagia Johnson joining us on ninety three
point three KJRFM. For those that haven't seen her play,
give you some insight to what she's doing. Fourth in
scoring for a rookie and Storm history at twelve points
per game, and the Storm have had some pretty dang
actually said thirteen points a game now, Storm.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Have had some pretty dang good rookies.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Second rookie in Storm history to average twelve points and
five rebounds through the first twenty five games of her career.
The only one other to do that is Brianna Stewart.
She has had an unbelievable rookie season. And you talk
about going on the road, but it almost it must
almost seem like home too, because you have so many
fans in every arena because you got one one point
(03:46):
five million dollars or a million Instagram followers because of
your rap career and your basketball career. So do you
do you kind of feel a little bit like a
rock star when you go out on the road.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Definitely, I definitely feel in love. I'm blessed, you know,
to be able to go to arenas and people who
have made signs and they've made shirts and they've you know,
spent their time and their money to come, you know,
see me, And I didn't mean so much to me,
Like they kind of called my name super fast, like
when they do our uh when they do our player
introduction because they know the crowd goes third up. But
(04:21):
it's just very fun like the flock. You know what
I'm saying, My fan based the flock. I love them.
They followed me everywhere. You know what I'm saying. They
show love. So shout out to the fans that's always
showing up. Man.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
You went off last week for twenty three in a
storm win in La. You scored the first thirteen points
of the game.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
KD was in the house.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Was that a little I mentioned on the broadcast? I
was like, that might be a little extra motivation for
flaj Ac.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
You spent a bunch of time with them after the game.
So what type of motivation was Kevin Durant for you?
Sitting in the front row.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
It was crazy. I didn't even see KD until like
after I hit the thirteen points and I was like, KD,
bring up, So yeah, I started sitting a little bit.
I was like, oh yeah, I'm about to shoot that
again like KD and the building is up.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
That is awesome.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
What are you to attribute the rise of popularity to
women's basketball too, because I mean, over the last two or.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Three years, it has just absolutely gone through the roof.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Man. I think it's just amazing basketball. I think we
now have like superstars in this league and stars and
their own right, and I just think, you know, I
like to say, like I got to see that emergence happen,
like during the tweeny twenty three college basketball season. That's
when everything kind of like erupted for women's college basketball.
(05:39):
And I think it just went to the pros as
the stars going and I think it's been crazy and
you would think, like, nah, it's just like they're just
having a moment, But it's not a moment, Like it's
a real movement. Everywhere. Every time we go play, an
arena is sold out, like you know what I mean.
So I think it's important for us to keep going
to game for it respect in the past and just
(06:00):
kind of imburse in the future with it.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Johnson joined us.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
You know, I followed the WNBA on a daily basis,
but a lot of my listeners on the radio show, don't.
I mean, they're just sports radio listeners. They know certain
WNBA names, and certainly one of the names that they
know is Kaitlyn Clark, who you're taking on tomorrow. You
mentioned guarding the likes of Paige Becker's and you know,
Jackie Young and.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Some of those players.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
How much you know some people will say, hey, it's
a result the rise of women's college back or women's
basketball's result of Caitlyn Clark.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
How accurate do you think that assessment is?
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Yeah, I can agree to that. I could just say
she brought a lot of eyes to women's basketball, But
you gotta think we gotta think about the legends that
kind of built it, you know what I mean. You
gotta think about the legends that built it, you know.
So I think, of course, like she her popularity has
definitely helped, but there's a lot of superstars that are
attributed to that, and I think I think it's gonna
(06:53):
be more. I think when Juju comes out of college,
it's gonna bring away like that as well. So I
don't know, I think she definitely, she definitely to contribute,
though for sure, you.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Guys have the youngest starting five in the WNBA. How
exciting is that now I know the wins. The wins
aren't coming in year number one so far, but this
was kind of a reset type season to build what
the future was gonna look like. How exciting is that
when you look at players like Awa Farm and Don
Maloga and you still have Zie in her prime and
(07:22):
what Tea is doing at the point guard position.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Just talk about the youth and what you think the
Seattle Storm could be in a year or two.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
I think we could be amazing. I think everybody sees.
I think everybody sees like the spurts of it, you
know what I'm saying, when we put it all together.
I think they see when it's really good and it's like, wow,
these girls are unbelievable. And I think people can see like, Okay,
they're still really young, you know what I mean, And
some of the decisions we make and some of the
things we do. But it's gonna take you just a
little bit of chemistry learning to play together.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
You know.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
You know I would speak Spend as Don Street speaks French.
You know, it's a little bit of language barrier. So
I think now like just learning each other and knowing
like where they want to go, knowing like how they
want the ball, when they want the ball, and that
stuff you only can learn through repetition and practice. And
so I think the off season is going to be
real big for us, but also just just these games
we're playing together, but we're trying to win. We all competitors.
(08:13):
We ain't finished. Sit here and just be like, yeah,
we know it's a new year, new team, new coach,
new everything, we rebuilding, but let's go win. So I
played this second half of the season like that's what
our mind on.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Yeah, you got about twenty games left or so, So
what are the goals for the rest of the year
for you individually?
Speaker 2 (08:29):
I mean, you're you're a lock for the All Rookie team.
Let's forget about that. I mean, you're going to get
on the All Rookie team.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
But what are the goals for you individually and also
as a team down the stretch.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Here, I'm trying to get on that defensive team, like
I told you earlier, Like, okay, I take pride and garden. Yeah,
in fact, I take pride and guarding the best players.
Every night I had a career high and still the
other night I'm like I can do a little bit
more of that. My blocks have been crazy, you know,
and just all just being when I'm on the court,
Like I feel like I can cause and rehab it overall.
(08:59):
So I think, uh, the defensive team is something that
I want to I want to advocate to. Yeah, because
that's something I really take product. I'm really good at it.
Like I feel like, shoot, I'm I'm one thing about me.
I'm gonna take that challenge and I'm gonna I'm gonna
take it personal. So yeah, that's something I'm looking forward to.
But also double digit wins man, Like, Okay, double digit wins, bro,
(09:20):
we got we gotta get some more wins. So that's
something I'm pushing for.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
I like that. Hey, before we let you go, most
important question? What song?
Speaker 1 (09:27):
If somebody has never heard a Flage Johnson rap, what
song do they need to download?
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Go ahead, download on the Way on the Way. It's
on my R and B project. It's called Flaw and B.
But that song is called on the Way.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Okay, I'm gonna do it right now. Hey, we appreciate
it so much. Can't wait to see you when you
get back to Climbate Pledge. Thanks for joining me.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Appreciated man, see you soon, you bet.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Flaje Johnson just absolutely unbelievables you can tell, unbelievable personality
and a great eight basketball player. We'll come back with
more on ninety three point three KJRFM.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
Now back to Suffie and Digg, brought to you by
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Speaker 1 (10:25):
And welcome back Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM.
Speaker 6 (10:30):
Boy, I've been doing this a long time.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
The closest I've ever come to talking about boat racing
is I think I've covered seafair a couple of times.
I definitely covered a number of Windermere cups with the
crew over at the University of Washington. What I've never
done so this is exciting for me is talk about
dragon boat racing.
Speaker 6 (10:49):
But that's what we're gonna do right now.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Lucciana Bozzio, our a friend from are a long time
ago here at these studios, is now the co captain
of Survivor Sakage wined with JT. Thompson, the assistant coach
for Sake Paddling Club Luciana.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
How are you.
Speaker 7 (11:06):
I'm doing great. Thank you for having us, Dick, you bet,
it's very exciting. Can you believe that in all the
years that I've been in iHeartMedia working with you guys,
I never went on air in kJ R.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Now we got a first for both of us and JT.
Thanks for joining us. How are you?
Speaker 5 (11:25):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (11:26):
Great?
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Thanks?
Speaker 4 (11:26):
I do have some radio experience though, so we're all qualified.
Speaker 6 (11:30):
Now perfect?
Speaker 1 (11:31):
All right, Well, let's let's talk about the Lucian Let's
start with you tell us, because let's face it, I
think the majority of the listening public has no idea
what dragon boat racing is and certainly what Survivor Sake is,
So give us, give us the lowdown.
Speaker 7 (11:45):
Well, first off, Survivor SAKI is a dragon boat team
with practice on Lake Washington off of Leishai Marina. And
what's particular about a team is that we're all cancer survivors. Wow,
and we are part of Team Survivor Northwest. But like
you said, this is the first time you talk about
(12:05):
dragon boating and so what is a dragon boat And well,
it's a very long boat that holds twenty paddlers on
ten on each side. It has a drummer at the
front that is keeping the piece, and it has a
tillery in the back making sure we go in the
right direction. And we just race against each other. And
it's a fun, fun sport to do.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
And you've got some exciting coming up in September, which
is why we have you on. What do we got
coming up, Luciana.
Speaker 7 (12:33):
Well, my team, not me, I wasn't there, but last
year they competed in Florida and they qualify to race
in Taiwan for an international club race championship. It's the
Club Crew World Championship in Taiwan. And we are training
like crazy to make a good excite, to set up
(12:57):
a good example there.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Well, coach Tom's and you're a very accomplished rower, part
of the World dragon Boat Racing Championships last year in Germany,
so you're heading back this time to Taiwan. Talk about
how you qualified. How many people issake sending to the
World Championships and how did they qualify?
Speaker 4 (13:16):
Oh, great questions. Yes, we're sending forty two of us,
including supporters just bringing our paddles. The boats are already
there in case anybody who's wondering. But it's still an
expensive trip, so we're doing a little fundraising on this also.
But to be on the team like this, you just
come to practice and you listen to the coach and
(13:37):
you learn how the mechanics of your body want to
work with this. We have a prescribed paddle stroke. We
have good coaching as well as encouragement from the family
you build as you do this. The team went through
the rigorous process of training and then we do some
skill testing with the coaches as far as proving our
(13:59):
strength in our duration to be able to go for
two to three to four minutes all out, and in
our age group, that's not easy. So we do a
lot of off water training too.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
So Luciana talk about the fundraising here. JT brought up fundraising.
You guys definitely need help. So how does that work
and what type of events can we can we help with?
Speaker 7 (14:21):
Well, we need to make sure everyone that wanted to
go could go, and sometimes money is an issue, I
mean for most of us, and this is not a
cheap trip. So we started hand dying silks, cars I
mean us, the paddlers were doing that, and we are
selling them to everyone that will buy them from us.
(14:44):
We also came up with the idea of doing three
three deep printed battle so cool and pendants and those
are very popular. And we have an event coming up
on August ninth from five to seven pm. We have
(15:04):
an event for all the paddling community of western Washington.
It's a yacht rot dance party at Wats Brewing Company.
And that is supposed to be an amazing event because
for the first time we're gonna meet with the people
we usually compete. By this time, we're not gonna be competing.
We're just gonna be wearing plain clothes and diving.
Speaker 6 (15:26):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Watts Brewing Company, August ninth, five to seven o'clock. For information,
you can go to club sake, C, l U, B,
S A k E dot com and JT.
Speaker 6 (15:37):
What are you looking for from the listeners? What can
we do to help?
Speaker 5 (15:41):
Well?
Speaker 4 (15:41):
We do have a donation tab on that website. We
love that well. We also want to participation. We love
new paddlers. We have great ways, easy ways to join
and try this. Coming up August fifteenth, we have a
new paddler opportunity starts at noon and anybody from the
(16:03):
Seattle area community. Actually we get guests from out of
town sometimes for this, but you're welcome to join us.
And we have special sessions set aside to teach and
learn how to participate in the sport. And you know,
I started doing this as as how to get in
shape as a as an older person, but found a
family in a community that's, as you said, elevated me
(16:25):
into a world championship competition system that now is a
retired person absolutely enjoying and sharing this as much as.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
I can, So Lucian to tell us why we should
be a paddler. What do you like most about the
paddling with Survivor sake and sake in general.
Speaker 7 (16:43):
Well, first off, if this is a sport you can
practice at any age. It's not like in soccer, like
right now with the World Cup, everybody's talking about it
is you are thirty eight and you're already old. With
dragon voting, we have paddlers well into their nineties. So
this is the sport anyone can practice. You just need
(17:05):
to want.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
To do it.
Speaker 7 (17:07):
And partly with Survivor for me, has been the syrap
I didn't know I needed to be honest hanging out
with women that know what I went through. I had
breast cancer. When when I was working right next to
you and I heard media and it.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Was twenty eighteen, I didn't.
Speaker 7 (17:26):
Know I needed the support of other people. And when
I found this team, I really found my family. And
it's all because of klat Tacky and Team Survivor Northwest.
Really they really meant a difference in my life.
Speaker 6 (17:39):
That's awesome. And JT. Finally, what's the best part about
coaching this?
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Oh seeing a paddler that when their eyes change, look
up at you and go, I get it. When you've done,
You've communicated and put together the right words at the
right time for somebody and they have just this little
tiny click in their head and they say, I get it, coach,
And they look at you with those eyes and they
and they call you coach. That means it means a
(18:05):
lot to me.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Well, that's it's great stuff. So we can help out.
We can either help out by donations. You can go
to the Brewery Party on August the ninth, five to
seven at Watts Brewing Company. You can also join and
all the information Clubsake dot com, club s A k
E dot com and teams Survivor NW dot org. Guys,
(18:26):
it's great to talk to you, Luciana, j T. Best
of luck in the in the World Championships.
Speaker 7 (18:31):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
Sake you bet, JT.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Thompson, the coach, and Luciano Bassio, the co captain of Survivor.
Speaker 6 (18:38):
Sake here on ninety three point three kJ R f
M
Dave 'Softy' Mahler and Dick Fain News
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