With the U.S. Women’s National Team’s Olympic championship in the rearview mirror, it’s time to turn our attention to the National Women’s Soccer League, as play restarts this weekend. Allegations of widespread sexual and emotional abuse forced a reckoning for the league in 2021. But three years later, a groundbreaking collective bargaining agreement is in effect, investment is pouring in, and franchise values are on the rise. Today, Philadelphia Inquirer soccer reporter Jonathan Tannenwald expl...
Aug 23, 2024•27 min
Let’s face it, for the last few years, the New York Mets have made headlines in the most Metropolitan way possible. From first round playoff flamouts to million dollar fire sales to chucking gloves in the stands, something always seemed to be going wrong in Queens. But through it all, the one enduring constant has been their underrated superstar – shortstop Francisco Lindor. And with the Mets looking to make noise this October, his off the field leadership could be more valuable than his Hall of...
Aug 22, 2024•31 min
The rolling hills of Central Pennsylvania are home to Howard J. Lamade Stadium – one of the most fabulous baseball sites in America and the site of the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Every year teams from around the globe travel to this small town to showcase their grit, hope, sportsmanship and will to win. While this represents everything that’s great about the game of baseball, there’s also a special brand of magic that takes place that’s hard to explain if you’ve ne...
Aug 21, 2024•35 min
While we are still enjoying the last moments of summer, the college football machine is already off and running as a fully operational battlestation. The CFB Top 25 rankings were just released and while some teams are looking poised to be some serious competition, others have fallen in the rankings leaving many questions up in the air. There have been so many changes in 2024, from the new sheriff in town for the Crimson Tide, to the SoCal teams swimming in the ultra-competitive Big Ten waters. N...
Aug 20, 2024•29 min
Today, as the Little League World Series brings youth sports front and center, ESPN’s Courtney Cronin explains how George McCaskey, a scion of the legendary Halas family who owns the Chicago Bears, became a community fixture in youth sports as an umpire. Plus, Courtney’s been watching the Bears closely this preseason and tells us whether or not they’ve found their dream team with the rookie duo of quarterback Caleb Williams and wide receiver Rome Odunze. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit p...
Aug 19, 2024•29 min
When Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga took the mound on June 2, 2010 he was just looking to prove to the team that he deserved the stay in the starting rotation. But what began as a routine outing, turned into one of the most dramatic and historic moments in baseball history. Galarraga sat down the first 26 Cleveland hitters that he faced, leaving him one out away from a perfect game. But moments later, instead of glory, a blown call by the umpire, Jim Joyce, kicked off a nightmare for M...
Aug 16, 2024•34 min
The Olympic games are over and on the hardwood, both the men and women of Team USA brought home gold. But while the guys head off to vacation, the WNBA athletes are getting back to work. The league’s four-week break for the Paris Olympiad is over with teams taking the court tonight to kick off the season’s home stretch. And many storylines are still up in the air. Today, ESPN’s Rebecca Lobo, an Olympic gold medalist and former WNBA All-Star herself, drops by to tell us about the playoff push and...
Aug 15, 2024•27 min
Some of the greatest achievements in sports and music are the product of the same phenomenon––finding your flow. That is the motivating idea behind a new ESPN Film, from the mind of Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, titled “Rhythm Masters.” Hart interviewed numerous athletes and coaches from different sports, from Phil Jackson and Laila Ali, to Marshawn Lynch and Joe Montana. The result is an exploration of the common threads between top level athletes and musical artists. Our own Wright Thomps...
Aug 14, 2024•33 min
The Olympics are over, but in Europe, the soccer season is just about to get underway. In England, Premier League football begins on Friday, and the question everyone needs answered? Can anyone topple Manchester City from the top of the heap? Meanwhile, further south in the continent, La Liga starts on Thursday. And the league with the most star power on the map, welcomes the best player on the planet in Kylian Mbappé, to its biggest brand, Real Madrid. Today, ESPN’s Luis Miguel Echegaray tells ...
Aug 13, 2024•31 min
The Summer 2024 Paris Olympics just ended, and it was truly a return to form for the games. France, and the world, embraced the athletes from across the globe, and with no COVID restrictions in place, we got a chance to see the competitors play a brand new role. Influencer. We were able to get up close and personal thanks to the access you get on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter, or X, which made for a fun, and at times hilarious two weeks of competition. So today, our Emily Kaplan ...
Aug 12, 2024•33 min
After winning two golds, a silver, and a bronze in Paris, Thursday brought news that Katie Ledecky will carry the flag for the United States in Sunday’s Olympic closing ceremonies. It’s just another item on a very, very long list of career records and milestones. But despite the wild success, Ledecky’s unassuming personality and predictable dominance have made her more of a steady champion than a cultural phenomenon. Today, our D’arcy Maine helps peel back the curtain to understand what makes Le...
Aug 09, 2024•26 min
The second week of the Olympic Games means one thing – the promise that stars will either fall or be made in track and field. And from what we’ve seen so far, Paris has delivered. Noah Lyles claimed the title of Fastest Man Alive and has his sights set on claiming more gold in today’s 200M event. And while Sha’Carri Richardson lived up to her 2020 promise that she would be a presence in these Games, despite so many counting her out. Then there’s the newly minted national heroes like Julien Alfre...
Aug 08, 2024•31 min
Paris’ women’s gymnastics events were flooded by Olympics fans looking to get one last peek at Simone Biles on the sports’ biggest stage. But her ultimate legacy will likely go far beyond what took place in this competition, or any other for that matter. Today, our Alyssa Roenigk draws on her years of reporting on Biles and explains how generations of gymnasts will have Simone to thank for a sport with a far healthier outlook on the body and the mind. Alyssa’s project on Simone Biles is titled “...
Aug 07, 2024•32 min
When Imane Khelif of Algeria defeated Italy’s Angela Carini in just 46 seconds at the Paris Olympics, she should have been celebrating her advancing to the quarterfinals. Instead, Khelif found herself at the center of a firestorm focused on her gender. Because even though she was born a woman, has lived her life as a woman, and was verified by the International Olympic Committee as a woman. There were loud voices spreading the misinformation that a man had just beaten up a woman in an Olympic bo...
Aug 06, 2024•35 min
We’ve seen how a good quarterback can change everything for an NFL franchise nearly overnight. Brett Favre started a chain of succession that is looking to anoint its third champion in Green Bay. Tom Brady turned the Patriots into the greatest dynasty the sport has ever seen. And Patrick Mahomes is looking to three-peat in Kansas City. And in today’s NFL, it seems like the path to becoming an iconic signal caller is happening faster than ever before. So today, with the NFL season just around the...
Aug 05, 2024•32 min
From a national title with the legendary Nebraska Huskers to bronze, silver and gold with Team USA in the Olympics, Jordan Larson has won every volleyball honor imaginable. For many people that is a complete resume, but for Larson that was never enough. What she sought from the game was an emotional connection to her peers, her hometown and her family. And as her career winds down she often finds herself reflecting on those lost connections of what could have been and – since the loss of her mot...
Aug 02, 2024•31 min
The dust has settled, and the MLB trade deadline is behind us. The rosters are more or less set for the stretch run of the MLB regular season. And what a deadline it was. 30 deals were struck on Tuesday alone, to say nothing of the moves that happened in the weeks leading up to July 31st. So Jeff Passan joins the show today to breakdown the comings and goings across the league. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Aug 01, 2024•31 min
With the Olympic games well under way, so is the quest of the US women’s basketball team as they go for their eighth-straight gold medal. And with names like Diana Taurasi, A’ja Wilson, Nepheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart in tow, the odds are definitely in their favor. But who's got next for this juggernaut? And more importantly, when will the rest of the world catch up with Team USA? Today, Alexa Philippou joins us to break down everything we will see in Paris and beyond as Team USA continues ...
Jul 31, 2024•27 min
The NFL season is almost upon us. Training camps are open and preseason games start on Thursday, but in many corners of the league, the action is already well underway in the negotiating room. Like in San Francisco, where the 49ers are trying to figure out how to pay their Mr. irrelevant QB Brock Purdy the huge money he has coming his way while also trying to keep the rest of the Niners stars in town. And out in Texas, what will the Cowboys, and their checkbook, do about Dak Prescott and CeeDee ...
Jul 30, 2024•34 min
It’s not hyperbole to say that this may be the biggest shake-up college football has gone through in decades. The Pac-12 is extinct, the Big Ten stretches from coast-to-coast, the Big 12 and ACC are fighting to stay alive, and the SEC just keeps on gaining steam. Oh, and the College Football Playoff is expanding from four teams to an even dozen. So ESPN senior college football writer Heather Dinich, fresh off trips to both SEC and Big Ten media days, explains how things are going to work in coll...
Jul 29, 2024•33 min
A little more than three years ago, inside a shiny new arena in Rwanda’s capital, the Basketball Africa League launched its inaugural season. It was a milestone for the continent and for America’s National Basketball Association, which was a driving force behind the venture. But among human rights experts, the NBA’s deal with Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame has raised questions since the very beginning. Today, our Mark Fainaru-Wada takes us inside his 18-month investigation into a partnership tha...
Jul 26, 2024•32 min
The Olympic games are officially underway, and for the USWNT the chase for gold begins tonight against Zambia. But this isn’t the same team that we’re used to seeing. The names have changed, and with America’s worst finish in a major international tournament EVER in the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the playing field is stronger than ever. So today, ESPN global correspondent Sam Borden explains what’s changed. Who stands between the ladies and a gold medal on the pitch? Learn more about your ad choice...
Jul 25, 2024•27 min
The 2024 Olympics are just about ready to get started in Paris. And that means that from sea-to-shining-sea, American fans are preparing to see the men’s Olympic basketball team bring home gold. But, as we’ve seen in recent years, the talent gap between Team USA and the rest of the world has been closing on the hardwood. So today, ESPN NBA writer Tim Bontemps tells us if the most talented international team we’ve ever sent to the games can capture the gold against the most talented field in the ...
Jul 24, 2024•27 min
It's been a minute since breakdancing hit mainstream culture in the early 1980s, but this summer, it’s evolving to another level with breaking, a competitive version of this art form, making its Olympic debut at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. 16 men and 16 women will compete for the first-ever breaking medals on August 9th and 10th. Today, Clover Gold introduces us to one of America’s top B-girls, Sunny Choi, and reflects on what breakdancing’s rise to the Olympics says about the impact and evo...
Jul 23, 2024•26 min
Last Thursday, we kicked off an examination of ESPN’s rankings of the greatest athletes of the 21st century. And though we found a lot to disagree with, we also uncovered a lot of insights about the state of the sports world in 2024. So today, we bring you part two of this conversation between Emily Kaplan, Kevin Clark and guest host Jeremy Schaap. Does Kobe deserve to be higher than Tim Duncan? Why is Aaron Rodgers so low? Did international stars get a fair shake? What does this list tell us ab...
Jul 22, 2024•30 min
WNBA All-Star Weekend is upon us, with the STARRY 3-Point Contest and the Kia WNBA Skills Challenge airing on Friday night at 9 pm eastern on ESPN. And the AT&T WNBA All-Star Game itself tipping off on tomorrow at 830 PM on ABC So today, ESPN women’s basketball reporter Alexa Philippou, takes us through what the weekend has in store. She previews the faceoff between Team USA and Team WNBA, and dives into the most riveting Rookie of the Year race in the history of the league. Before explainin...
Jul 19, 2024•29 min
ESPN has released its rankings of the greatest athletes of the 21st century so far, and we’ve got some bones to pick! That is, after all, the point of these things –– it’s fun to argue about. So that’s exactly what we’ll do today. Emily Kaplan and Kevin Clark join guest host Jeremy Schaap to examine why the players missing from the list may be more telling than those actually on it (no Breanna Stewart?!), why the term “GOAT” may be losing its meaning, and why Serena Williams, Tiger Woods, Lionel...
Jul 18, 2024•36 min
Ten years ago, during a skydiving accident, Emma Carey and her instructor plummeted some 14,000 feet into an empty cow pasture in Switzerland. Miraculously, both survived the more than two-mile fall. Our own Ryan Hockensmith had the chance to speak with Emma about that experience. And to find out how she overcame the nightmare, processed her recovery, came to terms with the miracle — and used her story to inspire others, without letting it define her. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podc...
Jul 17, 2024•32 min
The Midsummer Classic is upon us once again. And once again, there are more questions than answers in Major League Baseball. What will the Pirates do with Paul Skenes, their rookie phenom? How can we get players interested in the All-Star Game again? How should we honor the late legend Willie Mays? And with a couple weeks left until the trade deadline, what should the powerhouse teams on both coasts do to make sure they are more than ready for October baseball? Today, Buster Olney sits side-by-s...
Jul 16, 2024•28 min
There is no greater pain than seeing a child suffer through an illness. But also, there is no greater joy than seeing that child smile.That full spectrum of emotions is at the heart of ESPN’s annual My Wish series that debuts this week. An elite slate of athletes will meet with several children to bond over their shared love of the game and a belief that hope, passion and a good team are the recipe for victory in whatever challenge they face. So today, our very own Chris Connelly reflects on the...
Jul 15, 2024•26 min
