Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're staying up till three am tonight to prep for an Olympic sleep schedule one could only describe as absolute mont and pluden aka deeply unwise. On today's show, we're going to give you a quick rundown of everything you need to know about soccer at the Olympics, and chat with US women's national team and Gotham FC defender Tierna Davidson about new coach Emma Hayes, Olympic jitters and more. But first,
here's what you need to know today. The twenty twenty four Softball World Cup concluded on Sunday in Italy, with Japan defeating Team USA in the gold medal game six to one. The Softball World Cup is the sport's biggest competition and is held every other year.
Since the event began in nineteen sixty five.
The US has won twelve titles, Japan four, and Australia and New Zealand have each won one. The US Paralympic Track and Field trials were this past weekend, and the legendary Tatiana McFadden is headed to her seventh straight Paralympic Games. Five year old wheelchair sprinter and marathon are already owns twenty Paralympic medals, including eight golds and ten New York City.
Marathon medals, five of them gold.
She had a great showing at this weekend's trials, including first place finishes in the fifteen hundred and the four hundred meters, and she's headed to the twenty four Games. Another cool story out of the trials Noel Lambert, former Division one lacrosse player at University of Massachusetts Lowell, who lost her leg in a moped accident, has qualified for Paris in the long jump, an event she just picked
up this year. You might remember seeing Lambert on season forty three of the Show's Survivor, and she's at the US record in the T sixty three one hundred meters at the Tokyo Paralympics. We're on day two of the month long WNBA Olympic break, but some of the players are hard at work all the same off the court.
Sunday's breaking news about Joe Biden dropping out of the presidential race and endorsing VP Kamala Harris has players like the Chicago Skuys, Brianna Turner and the Vegas aces Sidney Coulson using their platforms to encourage folks to vote and give vocal about key issues in the election. In typical sid fashion, she made her point while still getting her jokes off. She tweeted, but for real, make sure to vote because we're on the precipice of losing every single right we've ever had.
Won't even be able to look right no more.
Can't turn right on red, can't say right because it's a home of phone. If your last name is right, gonna have to change it to wrong. Brianna Turner kept it a little more simple, tweeting out although w fans will have to wait a few weeks to watch WNBA games again, you could stay connected by heading to rockthvote dot org slash team w to register to vote, check registration status, pledge to vote, or request an absentee ballot.
We're gonna chat with the incredible Tierna Davidson, but let's give ourselves a little Olympic soccer need to know first. So this will be the US women's national team's first major international tournament with Emma Hayes at the helm as head coach. The US hasn't won Olympic gold since the twenty twelve London Games, and they're coming off their worst finish in World Cup history lifelast year when they lost to Sweden in PKS in the round of sixteen. I
was there in Australia. I still contend that Elyssaayor stopped that shot, but we can't live in the past. The US has dropped to fifth in the latest FIFA rankings, it's lowest points since FIFA began ranking women's teams in two thousand and three, and the US is going to have to find a new level in order to compete with the other eleven teams going to France top rank Spain are the favorites heading into the games, coming off their twenty twenty three World Cup win, a win that
they got despite turmoil on and off the pitch. They actually might even be stronger for these games because they're getting back several players who were absent from the World Cup roster after protesting their now disgraced manager, Jorge Vilda. Good note, though, history is not on their side because no team has ever won the World Cup and Olympic gold in successive years. You've also got reigning champions Canada.
They want to defend their title, but they're going to have to do it without the legendary Christine Sinclair, who scored the most goals in international football history men or women, with one hundred and ninety. She announced her retirement from international play last year, but if you're a Sinclair fan, you could still watch her tear it up with the Portland Thorns. She scored the game winning goal in the Thorns five nail victory over Tijuana on Sunday as part
of that NWSL lega MXL Feminial Summer Cup. We mentioned on a previous show a couple other noteworthy items from some other Olympic teams. So Australia are without star striker Sam Kerr, who tore ACL in January, and keep an eye on Brazil. Thirty eight year old Marda is playing in her last major tournament. We'll give you all the goods on the US team's first opponent, Zambia tomorrow. That matches Thursday the twenty fifth at three pm Eastern Okay.
Before the interview with Tierna, since she's such a thoughtful representative for the Lgbtqia community, I wanted to get her thoughts on teammate Corbin Albert and for those of you who are unfamiliar before the interview, let me just catch you up on what's happened.
So far with the US midfielder.
So this spring, Corbin Albert faced criticism after she reposted, liked, and shared home of and transphobic content on social media. One of the posts that she reshared was from a Christian worship sermon that said being gay and quote feeling transgender is wrong. In another post, Corbyn and her family recorded themselves saying that their pronouns were USA. She also liked to post celebrating Megan Rapino's injury in the final
game of Rapino's NWSL career. The original post said quote God taking time off performing miracles to make sure Megan Repinos sprains her ankle in her final ever game. Obviously, albert social media activity didn't please the fans, but current and former players also spoke out, including Repino. Quote I would just ask one question, Raupino said in an Instagram post. Are you making any type of space safer, more inclusive, more whole, any semblance of better bringing the best out
of anyone? She continued, Because if you aren't, all you believe in is hate and kids are literally killing themselves because.
Of this hate.
Albert issued in a poll on Instagram, saying, in part quote, liking and sharing posts that are offensive, insensitive, and hurtful was immature and.
Disrespectful, which was never my intent.
US Soccer also said the team was handling the situation internally. Okay. That was all back in March and April, and it was unclear whether Albert, who was already on the bubble for the Olympics, would be included on the roster for Paris, but new US coach Emma Hayes unveiled her eighteen player
roster last month and Albert was on the list. Her inclusion reignited calls from both fans and former players asking whether the twenty year old had actually done enough work to grow and change, and in the FRED lies leading up to the Games, Albert consistently received a fair amount of booze from the US crowds when she entered games. Okay, so now you're all cut up on Albert and all caught up on US Soccer as they had inca Olympic games.
Now that you're full of knowledge, let's get even smarter by talking to our favorite Stanford gal.
Sorry, Julie Fouder. You could take back that honor when you come on the show. Tierna Davidson after the.
Break, joining us now on Good Game. World Cup champion and Olympic medalist center back for the US women's national soccer team and Gotham FC of the National Women's Soccer League. After playing three years at Stanford, she was drafted first overall by the Chicago Red Stars. I'm un highest in the twenty nineteen draft and played for Chicago until signing with New York New Jersey this past offseason. And we're all very happy for her and not sad at all
that she left us. She wanted to be an astronaut, but she settled for being out of this world at soccer. It's Tiaranna Davidson. Hi, Tyrna, I'm so happy to see you. Hi.
Thanks for having me.
Oh my gosh, I just I'm getting so excited for the Olympics. I can't wait for my entire life to be blown up watching every single event, but most importantly the soccer. And I'm so glad you're back on the roster. You were in camp for last year's World Cup and you were still recovering from an acl tear, so you didn't end up making the final roster. You're back, you look great, You're headed to Paris. Want I know how
you're feeling health wise? Do you feel like fully recovered now and back to pre injury shape and form?
Yeah, definitely. I mean I think so much of what it means to be back after an injury is less so about you know, physically, can you do the things that are required of you? But even more so kind of like mentally, are you up to speed? Do you
feel good about your gain? Do you feel like you're thinking fast enough and anticipating things so, Like a lot of people say, it takes the amount of time that took you to get physically back onto the field, it'll take you that amount of time to feel quote unquote like back to your normal gain. And I definitely feel like I experienced a bit of that, which required a lot of patience and a lot of grace. It's not easy to give yourself as an elite athlete, but nonetheless was required.
Did you have to take a big hit or go in for a tackle. Did you have to have that physical moment of trusting your need and your body in order to be like Okay, I can be confident and aggressive again.
Yeah, it was. It was funny.
It was actually one of my first full contact trainings when I was training with Wolfsburg in the off season and I just had to go into a big tackle because the ball was just in between me and another player, and it happened, and I didn't really think about it until after, and I was like, Okay, well, I guess I can do that.
Then we're good to go. There we go, like if it works. I forgot about Wolfsburg. Did you pick up any German?
I tried my best. I must say not a huge fan of dual linka. I feel like I learned how to, you know, order a coffee and a Sally.
That's it. I tried that before Italy and I was like, I'd rather like start with some basics like him and her and she and he and me and they, and like how to talk to someone, not just get a America.
Teacher, the grammar or like the structure of the language. At time, I kind of felt like I was memorizing stuff. But I definitely got to learn some soccer stuff, some numbers, some colors, you know, very important for trainings.
Yes, there you go. So you've got a new head coach, Emma Hayes came in very heralded. I'm wondering what the biggest style differences between Black co and Danovsky, who was coaching the US national team before Emma, and now that Emma's in, what do you feel is the biggest difference or just in practice.
I would say that she is really trying to instill in us a lot of tactical flexibility. I mean, I think that over the past few camps that we've had with her, but also extending into when Twila was our intim coach and Emma was kind of starting to implement from behind the scenes, you saw a lot of different shapes that we were playing a lot of people in different positions, whether it's on the field or like actually
tactically just kind of shifting a little bit differently. I think that's really helpful, especially with the game and how it's evolving. You know, you have to be able to be flexible. You're going to see a lot of different pictures and you need to be able to counteract that
with different tactical choices on the field. So I really feel like we're playing a chess match and it's fun and it's exciting, and I think a lot of us are learning a lot which is definitely challenging but also a welcome challenge.
Is it fair to say that for a while, the US were able to rely on athleticism and the depth of their pool of athletes when playing other countries, and now they are You are needing to get more tactical and get more chess like in your approach in order to face off against some of these other countries that are really taking massive steps for the women's game.
Yeah.
I mean, I think a lot of what you're seeing is other countries, as you say, taking massive steps and investing in their women's soccer team and really gaining a better understanding of what we'll get them to the top. And you see just a lot more preparation and organization from teams. Even if it's not like the top top tier teams, the teams will still come very prepared and very organized. So we'll present a challenging problem. Even if it's not like a back and forth game, it still
won't be an easy game. And I think that's where the tactical flexibility comes in, and it's not just about you know, being able to get in behind the team and score goals. But it's also like, really, how do you break down an organized team that's patient and compact, And so I think that you just see a lot more different pictures and so, yeah, we definitely do have to have more tools in our box.
We certainly heard that from Emma after your final friendly against Costa Rica. She was talking about the Christmas Tree format that made it really tough to score and how the team needs to figure out how to be more tactical. Lots of touches in the box, but no no points, no scores. So for the average fan watching the Olympics,
do you think they'll notice major tactical changes. Will they be able to see different shapes or players in different positions than they expected, or do you think it's a lot more internal, like the fans will just be watching and be like, oh, it's still still my favorite players.
Yeah.
I mean, I think it probably depends on the level of the fan. If they're maybe a casual fan, they might not notice the difference, but if they're like really tuned in, super tactical fan, like, yeah, you might notice some differences. Certainly you might notice players in different positions, But also how we're moving the ball as spaces that we want to get into or how we get there, you might definitely notice, but you know, it's obviously important for us, the small details.
It's it's important.
That we know those those changes and that we know how to access those keys for us. And whether that shows to the fans, I'm not sure, but certainly hopefully it shows in wins and goals, which fans love to see, so we're hoping for that result.
I'm still learning because I never played organized soccer beyond junior high. So when I got in on the Red Stars ownership, I asked around for like books to read, and everyone sent me the most complicated books like about which countries invented soccer and the most complicated information that I was like, no, no, no, I need like soccer for dummies.
So maybe in the off season we'll get Tierna our Stanford Smarty to sit us down and give us some like video presentations about different shapes and all the other things. I'm still learning. It's so hard when you're never like on the pitch doing it to see sports the same way as the ones that I that I did play. So maybe I'll just be watching like like one of those fans' that's just I'm watching soccer. I like soccer.
You were one of the youngest players on the US women's national team for a major international tournament, your first you were the youngest. How are you helping this young team, particularly the first timers. I just get ready and prepare.
Yeah, I mean, I think that it's taking what I felt was really helpful from veterans when I was one of the younger players and trying to implement that. I think what's so important going into a major tournament to get from the veterans is just really putting on the table. This is going to be hard, this is going to be wild. It's going to be a battle both with yourself and with everything that comes with a tournament, and you're just going to have to kind of grind it out.
And I feel like when a veteran told me that and kind of instilled that in me, you just realize, Okay, I gotta batten down the hatches and I just have to, you know, be able to perform well weathering the storm.
And I think especially with the Olympics, because of how fast it moves, the time between me, the compression of the schedule, It really is just like getting punched in the face and getting back up again and performing, you know, every two three days, and so really just impressing upon the younger players, like it will be difficult, but that's
why we're all here. We're all here to help and support each other, not just the players but also the staff, you know, So use those resources and reach out to people if you need it, but really like take care of yourself and then if you can take care of the person next to you.
Yeah, I love that. Also, maybe trying it to have like eleven teen croissants before every game, just because you're in France. It's tough that la deray. I just was in France and I think you guys flying to Nice right, there's a lot deray, like right in the airport. Be careful, you'll have like eleven d macarons and just be dragging ass. So it's tough in France. Stuff you mentioned actually the difference between the World Club and the Olympics. You've played
in both. Talk a little bit about the approach and the different strategy because there's such short recovery between games and there's as much smaller roster, so it feels like especially in Emma Hay's selection about flexibility, players who can play in multiple positions, being able to depend on someone coming in if there's an injury or someone's tired, Like, how does that affect your strategy as a team.
Yeah, absolutely, I mean, yeah, it's certainly no secret that the Olympics are a different beasts just because of how fast things move and how small the roster is. So I think, certainly it is important to be able to have players that can play multiple positions, that understand the roles in different positions, players that are ready to be called upon at a moment's notice, even if you know
that wasn't the plan. But certainly being able to have rotation in the roster and trying to keep players as healthy and as fresh as possible with our recovery modalities and what we do in the two days between games, that's so important. So it's trying to tow the line between, you know, pushing it as much as possible in the game and then also trying to.
Recover your body as quick as possible after that.
And I think we have a lot of great people in our performance department and our medical department to help players kind of get back to neutral as quick as possible.
We know Crystal Dunn is listed as a forward, but she can play anywhere, and thankfully they also have a big time score in Tierna Davidson. I mean, we saw you with the brace a couple of months ago or weeks ago. The secret sauce on the corners might just be your head, so we'll be looking out for you as a top Olympic scoer. So exciting. I want to ask about nerves before a big game. Do you have a routine? Is it a specific song you have to listen to, or meditation or talking to people or not
talking to people. What's your trick.
Usually in the day before going to the stadium? I try in journal takes my mind off of it a little bit and also, at the same time kind of focuses my mind. I feel like it kind of does both, which is important. You don't want to be thinking too much about it, but you also don't want to not
think about it. But then I think, once I get into the locker room, I try not to have too many superstitions because then if you don't get one done, then you're like, oh my god, I'm not gonna play well, or like something's gonna happen.
So you're just so spicious not superstitious.
Yeah, but I like to, you know, be present and available in the locker room. We always have someone on DJ playing music so I can listen to that. I don't need to listen to my own music, but you know, just getting my ankles and feet mobed by the meds and then getting you know, all my activation exercises in. You know, those are my typical game day routines. But I don't really have anything that's like super weird or at this out of the box.
Okay, I have several follow ups. Number one, who's the current DJ? Because I feel like, based on all my times hanging with Pino, she would definitely be the one who used to dominate who got to play what? But she's out of there, So who's taken over? Now? Well it is Crystal.
There have been multiple instances where she's like, I'm not the DJ, and all of us are like, yes you are, but it certainly is Crystal that's always hooking up her OX.
Okay, all right, we like it. Do you agree with her choices or you like Crystal? Again? DJ? Crystal, come on man, no, yes.
I love with choices and also too, like I'm very aware that it is not easy to please everybody in the locker room when you have twenty two people in there, someone's like a song or like not gonna like you know, whatever sequence that you put on.
So I'm very good.
Yeah, now I understand how difficult of a role that is, and that's why people actually don't usually.
Stick up right. Okay, other follow up, is there a fancy journal? Do we have like a special pen like when you're writing things down? It Is that also part of the routine.
Yeah, it's a journal like Harry around in my backpack. They have like there's a prompt on each page and then you can write. So it's not necessarily writing about what's happening in my day or like about the game. It's following that prompt and writing whatever I think about it. I do have a pen that I prefer, but it's not like if I lose it that I would lose my mind. But I do prefer the very skinny, the g two pens, like the thirty eight millimeter ones.
I love those. Oh my gosh, we're down to millimeter size.
We know are pens find that the ink is but it's It's not the end of the world if I don't get to use it.
Okay, it sounds like it might be. I'm a paper mate felt tip like almost like marcery type pen.
Yeah, but is that Does that leak through the pages?
No, it's usually light enough, but it depends does depend on the pages? Okay, this is this is important stuff that we're getting to. Okay, I do actually have an important question I want to ask you. Because this is such a beloved team and it's a new iteration. There are some favorite players that aren't there, but one of the one of the newer players, has been getting different reactions from the fans than the majority of the team,
and that's Corbyn. Albert. This is a real sticky, tough situation. I'm just wondering how you personally are dealing with both the public reaction to Corbyn and sort of the internal response about her.
Yeah, I mean, I think it's a difficult situation that has obviously affected me personally given what she was speaking on. I think that it is something that you have to learn as a young player, especially with the platform that you're given.
Is your.
Beliefs or you know, how you choose to express certain things is very public and people do look and listen, and you know, whether or not it's something that you grew up with or it was instilled upon you from a young age and you might not know better, it is something that can hurt other people, you know.
I think that she.
Has gone through a lot of learning since then, and she has to continue to do that as we all do as humans. We have to learn from from what we do in our lives and how people react to it and understand the hurt that we can cause.
You know, I think that.
It's difficult because.
As a team, we have always.
Wanted to be very welcoming to all of our fans, to all players that walk through the locker room, and so to have that in our space is very difficult.
But you know, I think I.
Have always believed in the ability for people to learn and for people to change and to evolve, and that sometimes requires a very difficult experience, which I think this is that moment for her. And so, you know, it's something that happens a lot in people's lives where they you kind of come between a rock and a hard place and you're like, Okay, what am I going to do? Am I going to I'm going to pick the left path or the right path, and you know, it's it's
up to her. But you know, I think that she's continuing to do that education and it's important that she expresses that as she learns. So I think, you know, the balls kind of in her court for that. But yeah, I mean it's been difficult. It was difficult for me when when it first.
Happened, and it's it's.
Been hard to hear how fans have been taking it because I feel like I want to be able to represent the queer community really well on this team, and so I want to have fans feel really welcome and feel like they can see themselves on this field in this team, and so I don't want there to be any sort of feeling that, you know, they they are not welcome here. So you know, I I, again, I believe in people being able to evolve.
And being able to learn. And I'm not someone that's going.
To meet any sort of hate with with hate. So you know, she she is one of my teammates and I respect that and I you know, respect her as a as a player. But you know, it's it is something that you have to go through with life is like you. You encounter and work with people that you don't always agree with. But yeah, that's you know, something that you want to try and help people to change. You want to try and help them love, and you know that's what we're trying to do.
Thank you for that. That was an impeccable answer, very thoughtful, exactly what I would expect from you, So thank you. Last question for you you're headed to Paris. We're so excited. What's the most impressive French word? You know that's not a French.
Oh my god, I don't want to venture to say a French word because I know that the French are very particular about how you pronounced their likely and I grew up speaking no French. I only have to learned Spanish. So I'm gonna leave it with a little.
Nailed it perfect. Have the best time, play free. Thank you so much for joining us. We love you.
Thank you, Sarah.
When we come back, when intentions don't match outcomes, what the Fact style? Hi, we're back and we've got a new segment for you where we give you some facts that make you want to say what the fact?
Olympic Softball Edition.
Okay, earlier we discussed the results of the Softball World Cup, a competition that, as of now is the sport's most important tournament. But that hasn't always been the case, and to understand why, we have to go back in time a little bit. Softball made its Olympic debut in nineteen ninety six. Now, if you weren't alive yet looking at u Misha, those Olympics marked a bunch of historic first
for women. The US women's softball team won the inaugural gold medal at those Atlanta Olympics, and then won again in two thousand and then one again in two thousand and four. But in two thousand and five, at an IOC meeting, softball and baseball were both narrowly voted off
the Olympic program following the two thousand and eight Olympics. Now, the IOC cited the fact that the sports weren't global enough, and at least in the case of baseball, that the best players in the world didn't even compete at the games. Here's where it gets a little complicated, so stick with us. Back in nineteen ninety one, before softball even made its Olympic debut, the IOC made it mandatory that any new sport applying for inclusion into the Games needed to include
both a men's and women's event. This meant sports already in the Games did not need to fall in line. That's why you see rhythmic gymnastics only open to women and Nordic combined still only open to men. But it did apply to all sports not already on the program.
This rule had really good intentions.
We can all get behind the idea to include more women at the Olympics, but it also has impacted softball's Olympic chances, So we say what the fact, it meant that female softball players had to team up with men's baseball players in order to have a chance of making it back to the Olympics, and the sports federations did
just that. They officially merged in twenty thirteen. So softball and baseball succeeded in returning to the Olympics in twenty twenty one, thanks to another new rule from the IOC that allowed host cities to propose sports that are popular in their country.
But here's the thing.
Men's baseball players don't really care about the Olympics. They have Major League Baseball. So when baseball returned to the Olympics in twenty twenty one. MLB players weren't even there, but the world's best softball players, hell yeah, they were there. Some players delayed major life decisions, others unretired. They did anything to compete in Tokyo. But Tokyo is a one time thing, and the French don't particularly care for softball or baseball, so neither sport will be awarded medals this
summer in Paris. But when the Olympics returned to the US in twenty twenty eight, boom, softball and baseball will return. So you could see how that Olympic inclusion, then exclusion, then inclusion again might be tough for softball players in a way that's far less meaningful for their baseball peers. There are a few options in twenty twenty four, including athletes unlimited softball to play professionally, but for most players the opportunities kind of dry up after graduation.
And it makes us.
Wonder what would softball look like if the sport had been in the Olympics all these years, either with or without baseball. Just think about where softball is compared to say, women's soccer, which, if you can believe this also made its Olympic debut in nineteen ninety six.
We love that you're.
Listening, but we want you to get in the game every day too. So here's our good game play of the day. Check out that link Briana Turner shared rockthvote dot Org, slash teamw You can register to vote, check your registration status, quest an absentee ballot, find a polling place, and more. Also, we want you to let us know who you're following to keep up with all things Olympics.
An athlete, an influencer or creator, a celebrity reporter. Who are you following for the best behind the scenes in Paris. We're just one day away from the first events being competed and I'm pumped.
Baby, Let the games begin. Give me all the content.
Also, don't forget to subscribe and follow good Game with Sarah Spain. Click that button wherever you're listening. That way, you won't miss a show. And we'd love it if you'd help us out by rating and reviewing too. Rating and reviewing is super super easy. Watch Icy Pops rating two out of five stars, review and it does the trick on a hot day if you're out of other options.
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Can't hold a candle to other delicious treats, so it's a push up pop or a fat frog for me every time. We'd love to hear from you, so hit us up on our email Good Game at wondermedianetwork dot com, or on social at Sarah Spain on Twitter. You can even leave us a voicemail message to two oh four fifty seventy. Thanks as always for listening. Good Game, Tatiana McFadden, Good Game, Team Japan Softball A few time changes. I don't know how I'm gonna do it, y'all.
I'm not going to sleep at all.
I don't even know what I'm gonna just go to watch the Olympics every single day twenty four to seven, three sixty five, never sleeping again. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzi and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz,
Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Jenny Kaplan, Emily Rudder, Breddy Martinez, and Grace Lynch.
Production assistants from Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah.
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