Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we've seen so much marketing for the Wicked movie. We're holding space for Ariana Grande and Cynthia Revo to come on the show.
Group chat call us. It's Tuesday, November twenty sixth.
Then on today's show you'll hear from Kansas City current center back Alana Cook, who joined us at our live show in case plus bear failure and as God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly. It's all coming up right after this welcome back slices. Here's what you need to know today in college basketball news, there's a new number one in the Associated Press poll. After knocking off defending champion South Carolina head coach Corey Closes UCLA squad sits atop the poll for the first time in
program history. The Game Cocks slid to number four and Southern Cal falls to number six following the Trojans loss to Notre Dame on Saturday. We'll put a link to the full AP poll for week four in our show notes Soccer news, and it's news that we are simply not emotionally capable of handling.
Right now, We're going.
To tell it to you and then we're going to try to forget about it for as long as possible. Two times FIFA Women's World Cup champion and twenty twenty four Olympic gold medalist, Alissa Nayer has announced her retirement from international soccer. The two upcoming games in Europe during this international window will be her last for the US women's national team. She will be back with her club,
the Chicago Red Stars next season. In Pro Volleyball Pro Vibes news, the Pro Volleyball Federation held the draft for its second season on Monday. The draft consisted of five rounds and the order was set for each round by a draft lottery. Back in October, the Atlanta Vibes selected Nebraska opposite hitter Merit beeson number one overall after trading with the Indie Ignite to get the first pick. Louisville's Anna de Beer went number two to Indie, and Creighton's
Norris Sis went third to the Orlando Valkyries. We'll link to the full draft results in our show notes and add it to your calendar now. Year two of PVF play begins January ninth. In softball, the gms and coaches for the inaugural season of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League have been announced, including legendary players kat Oustman and Lisa Fernandez. We'll link to the full list in our show notes. AUSL starts play in June of twenty twenty five. We
got to take a quick break. When we come back, you'll hear from Kansas City current and US Women's National team player Alana Cook. She joined us at the Westport Cafe in Kansas City on Saturday morning, where we held a brunch and a live taping of the show for
some wonderful brands, sponsors, and team execs. Some of the folks who make this show possible were there too, so shout out to Laura Corni, founder and CEO of D Blue Sports and Entertainment, and Jesse Katz, the head of Iheartwomen's Sports, for getting the audience all warmed up for us. Our conversation with Ilana is coming up next. Joining us here, We've got center back for the casey current. Alana Cook, also a US Women's national team member. Proud Stanford alum,
previously played for Paris Sanderman and the Seattle Range. She was named the NWSL Best eleven in twenty one, twenty twenty two and was a finalist for NWSL Defensive Player of the Year in both seasons.
Made her senior.
Women's national team debut in twenty nineteen. Has twenty nine total caps. She's a dog mom and a plant mom. It's a lot of cook Hi everybody. So the current acquired you in a trade this summer. What's the toughest part about joining a team midseason?
I would say the toughest part is probably being able to kind of wrap up with another team with unfinished business. And I think being able to transition to another team, another system that's that's already going and that's already so well formed. I was stepping into a group that was already so successful, and you know, you just want to step into the group and make it better. And so you know, you kind of have to find your role, find your place in that and figure out, you know,
the new new scheme, the new tactics and all that. So, to be fair, everyone here made it so incredibly easy, but you know, it's it was nerve wracking a little bit. I stuffed on the plane and I said, okay, this is this is a new adventure.
One of my faves Kayla Sharples, who was on the Red Stars when I was an owner, also got traded mid season, and she said that they forgot to turn off her Slack access for her old team, and she had to tell them like, hey, guys, I can't see any of this stuff, so get me out of here.
Did that happen?
Did you have proprietary information that they forgot to take from you?
Fortunately we were done playing Seattle by that point, but I did still have the huddle access for a little bit.
We got to work on this team.
They're working on their defending this week. Nice. Oh good, good good good.
Coming here to Casey, you were reunited with lat Gwandanovski, who was the former head coach of the national team, now here head coach again in Kansas City.
After some time away he came back.
Are there any big differences you notice between vladco as national team head coach versus club coach.
I would say I think he thrives in this environment because I think he does best when he has just the constant touch points with players. He's someone who's so detail oriented, so he dives into every single detail. You know, I'll get video clips where it's kind of like if your hips were maybe thirty more degrees open, like could you have gotten to this ball? Or like can we work on your foot like the two steps you took
getting to the ball. So I think it just benefits him so much to get to be in the environment every day, to get to see us every day, and every time we have time to do extras, I'll say, oh, black O, do you have anything for the center backs? He goes, do I have anything? Like okay, yeah, let's do something. So I just think, yeah, him being able to work with us every day and really implement his system, you know, you see the success on the field.
He's always described as a player's coach. Even when the national team was struggling, there was a real reticence I think to blame him or point fingers or be critical because the players love working with him. What's something you can tell us about him, like behind the scenes? What makes him such a great players coach?
Uh? Honestly he I know he said this in interviews that he feels like he laughs so much. But the man is goofy, like you wouldn't know it from his sideline demeanor, very serious and interviews, very serious. But he loves a good joke. He loves to tell stories. He is He's just a good dude. So he really is a players coach. We love having him, We love having in the environment, and.
I'm sure very nice to have him be here and want you want to make a trade for you and validate that he.
Believes in your skill set. That's really cool.
Speaking of skill sets, Tim Wuchawenga, holy shit, Oh there's kids in here.
Sorry, MVP of the league.
I have to imagine you two make each other better in practice. Can you tell us about that? Because that must be intimidating. It doesn't have an outcome, but you have to see it every day as opposed to just like once a week.
On the flight over here when we landed, I took this deep sigh of relief and I was like, I will never have to defend him what schwinga in a game at least for the next three years, and then I will follow her wherever she goes. But no, I think we love it just the competition. Every single day we take our we face our hardest battles in training, and by the time we get to the weekend, you know, we know we've prepared, we're over practice and we know, we face the best. We go against the MVP every day.
There's nothing we're gonna see on the weekend that we haven't prepared for. So it's an epic battle every time. And you know, we always like say, if you're not thinking three steps ahead, she's probably already gotten you beat. I remember one day we did a drill that you had to start and you would run basically sprint forty yards and try to like, as a defender, I would have to beat the attacker to the spot and try to defend a cross and flack one's going on a
beat her there. I was like, I would have to beat her up right here to be able to beat her forty yards. But so you know it, you learn some of the dark arts of defending. But yeah, she makes us all better.
Okay, we love I love the dark arts. I'm I'm not above cheating. Kansas City as a town does such a great job of around this team. What does it mean to you as a player to know you're getting sold out crowds at your stadium, that there's so much integration around the town and that there's a real belief that you're a part of this fabric of this town. That's full of sports teams as opposed to a newer addition or something people are still learning about.
I think it gives us a really deep sense of purpose knowing that the community rallies behind us and that they support us so much. I think we know we owe it back to them. The support we get is immense, you know. I always get this like really warm feeling talking about the fans at the games. I think it
drives us forward so much. When we talk about having home field advantage, we mean it that when the songs play after we score, when the crowd's cheering and chanting for us, we can feel like a tangible momentum shift, and you can see it in the other team's face that they know they're under the gun. And so I think it's just it's such an incredible feeling, even just being recognized around the city or having people come up to us and tell us how much they appreciate what
we're doing. I think it really is centering and grounding for us to know that, yes, this is soccer, this is our job, but it has such a bigger impact and we get to touch so many lives, We meet so many people, and I think for me My favorite part about this job has always been getting to meet people, getting to meet the community and be a part of that. So what they've created here it's incredible.
I also think it's really impressive to create a culture and a brand and an identity so quickly. In women's sports, there's a lot of ketchup because there isn't nostalgia.
There aren't traditions.
You haven't been going to the games with your grandparents since you were a kid.
Maybe producer Misha has because they were.
Born when the WNBA started, which is so gross. But most people are finding and choosing to be a fan as opposed to being born into it. And Kansas City has done such a good job of establishing tradition and establishing moments where the identity of being a fan feels bigger than just I come and watch. Sometimes it's I am a current fan, This is who I am.
Are the players aware of that? Are the players are aware.
Of creating lore in the early stages of something that hopefully will be around for century plus.
I don't think it's front of mind necessarily, but I think you hit the nail on the head. I think being a fan here there's a sense of like belonging community that comes with it, and that's something that I felt when I played at PSG. I think all of kind of the European teams, they have their ultras where they're absolute, die hard, insane fans like that is it's their religion, and I think for a lot of them
that it's that community. It's the feeling like you're a part of something and you're all believing in something together. And I think that's what's being built here. It's for a long time, like you said, the NDWUSL and women's sports has been only die hard fans because it's people who have wanted to buy every streaming service and who want to, you know, do every single thing, jump over
every hoop to be able to support. And I think now we're doing such a great job of making it so accessible and making it just a part of the identity of the city. Is you know, I live in Kansas City. Of course I support the current people are going to start to be born into that that fandom, so it's really exciting.
Yeah, And also the cool thing about being part of something newer is you do get to establish some of the firsts. The first title will be Yours the first river goal was this year.
We'll always I'm obsessed with river goals and you should get so.
Vanessa de Bernardo, who is also on the Red Stars, back when I was there, uh told me that the team has a little fun with you being a vegan and that you get made fun of.
I'm a vegetarian.
I just got back from Spain literally like eight hours ago, and I ate only potatoes and cheese because everything has like some sneaky ham in it. Over there, nobody likes sneaky ham. Have you convinced your players, your teammates to get on board? Have you made them many vegan feasts? Can you get them over to the plant side?
I love sharing every time I get food and my guys, do you want to try my tofu? And shockingly no one says yes. I'm still I'm still on the path. The one thing that actually the whole team loves and they have begged for me to ask for more of for them, is the vegan chicken fingers that we get from our chef. So one by one I will convince them by chicken fingers to the dark side.
One chicken finger at a time. Have you mastered being an athlete? On a plant based diet because I just after like seven years, was like, I guess I should see if I'm getting enough vitamins. And it's not as important for me as for you, but I feel like you probably have to be very intentional.
Yes, eating is like one of my biggest joys in the world, you know, and I think as athletes sometimes it becomes almost a bit of a chore. We do jokes sometimes, like I am eating strictly for sustenance. I'm like putting down eighteen pancakes at seven in the morning so that I can run for ninety minutes. But we were so well supported. I work really closely with our chef and our nutritionist and we'll do blood labs all the time to make sure that you know, I'm hitting
those numbers. Have you know, the right vitamin D levels, We test for B twelve, We test kind of all the things that and if you can diet, you know, you might struggle to get So we work so closely together that it's really taken that off my plate. Yeah, And basically they've just give given me a plan and all I really have to do is follow it. So it has become a lot easier since being here and kind of having that resource, having that guidance. I think before it was kind of like I feel good, so
I hope I'm doing it. But it's been really nice to kind of have the ability to check in and have the I'm a big data person, I'm a nerd at Stanford. It's nice to have kind of that scientific feedback. Yeah.
Remind me of the name of your major at Stanford.
Oh dear, it's called symbolic systems. Yeah, which explain that to us. It means nothing to anybody, no, no, no, tell us. But my concentration was human computer interaction, so kind of looking at the brains as a symbolic system, right like kind of like a computer, and just kind of seeing what that interaction between technology, society people is, how we integrate that, how it works best.
And it's a pretty fascinating thing right now with AI understanding the implicit bias because it is ultimately the result of humans, and so that same bias that we have ends up being computerized and when it becomes data, people believe it's fact, but it's got the same bias as everything else that we bring exactly.
Yes, yeah, look at me, got it.
I went to Stanford. Sure didn't.
You spent four seasons with the Rain, You won the Shield in twenty twenty two, you made it to the title game in twenty twenty three, came so close. What would you say the biggest thing you learned from your time in Seattle was.
I think one of the things that I took away from that was just getting to be around such incredible players. You know, I got to play under people who had been there for you know, since the beginning of the league, and I think they brought such unique perspectives. They had persevered through everything that the league has gone through, you know,
whether that was Laura Harvey or Megan Rappino. I think you get to be around people who understand greatness and understand what it means to win and win in all conditions when on the national team, win in the league when the salary was six thousand dollars. So I think they just taught me a level of grit and perseverance and really how to be a professional that I'll carry through with the rest of my career.
What players in the league who are playing right now do you look to to learn from.
I mean, I think, you know, I absolutely looked to pino A, Jefs, Fishlock right, who's still playing. So I think, yeah, just pretty much all the veterans of the league. I think, like I've said, they've they've gone through such trial and tribulation to be here and to have built the league
to what it's at. I think they were so fortunate that all of them have been so grateful in being you know, I think you can be bitter in that situation that they had to suffer to get the league where it is now and to see rookies come in making probably seven times what they made is rookies. But we're fortunate that pretty much all of them are willing to give back and willing to mentor and willing to say, Okay, great, we did our job getting the league here, like now
it's your turn. How are you going to push it? And mentoring us to be able to do that.
And I think the key to assuaging that bitterness is to have the youngsters appreciate and understand that without them you wouldn't be getting the things that you're getting. I thought you might drop Tierna and Naomi just because those are your stand for girlies.
I do love them.
Okay, Well, I answered it for you so they won't get mad at you later.
Recently, Lily Johannes announced her decision to play for the US instead of the Netherlands. Big round of applause. Screw you a Dutch, Sorry Netherlands. You actually had a decision to make too. You went to a camp for England and you allultimately chose the US. I don't blame you. US is the best, but it's a tough team to make and a tough team to stay on. It requires a lot of self confidence to make that choice. What was going through your mind when you made that decision.
Yeah, I think I'm obviously very proud to have you know both heritages and be able to represent either one. I think it took me a while to feel really comfortable with decision, But when I sat there and I really thought about it, I knew whether I never played another game with the US, or whether I played five hundred more win or lose, I would always be so proud of what I'd contributed and what I was able
to achieve with that crest. And I think I knew that that was the most important, that that was always going to bring me pride, and that was always going to be something. It didn't matter what team we were playing. I was always going to be ready, willing and excited to give everything I had to the program and to represent this country.
Five hundred would top Christine Lully even so, I think that's actually the number you need to.
Talk Chris lay into my late twenty twenty time twenties, Yes, exactly.
How do you balance being in the moment for club and valuing winning an NWSL title, winning Defender of the year, the prizes and accomplishments of the club level, while also understanding that there are larger goals with the national team. There is a World Cup coming up that I imagine you still would like to get back onto. That you were part of the twenty twenty three World Cup team, You're not part of this Paris Olympic team. I've heard players talk about how there's so much focus on the
national team that you can underappreciate your accomplishments at club level. Here, I think the investment in teams is changing that. I think the excitement, enthusiasm, the TV deals, the way that people are appreciating the clubs now.
In a way that they didn't even ten years ago, changes that.
But that doesn't erase the fact that we still think of the national team as the highest place for accomplishment. How are you able to focus on both getting yourself prepped in in the mindset to try to remake that national team, but also value what you're doing now.
I think it's I mean, it's easier said than done, but I think the only way to the national team is to value the little things, the day to day stuff in your club. Everything that I'm being asked to do, with the current that I'm being asked to work on folks on to get better on. Those are all things that are going to put me in a better position to perform and to be ready and to be able
to be called in for the national team. It's one of the reasons that I really wanted to be here was I knew that the development, the learning, the growing, that the commitment to all of those things, those will put me in the best position to be the best player in person that I could be. And you know, if I'm doing that, the hope is that's enough to get me called in. And if it's not, I know that at least I've developed, I've grown, and I've done everything in my power to be able to do that.
But like you said, I think the investment in clubs now the it's you know, the raising the bar in terms of standards of facilities, in terms of salaries, everything. I think people are able to be so much more invested in their clubs. It's not just if you want to have a long term career, you have to be on the national team. So I think, you know, the younger generation is now starting to really really value that
club experience. There. You know, we get to be in the club environment so much more than I think in the early stages of the league the national team players got to be. So it has been exciting I think to see that shift and to see the younger players really want to do both and want to be invested in both.
Are you still doing your morning mantras?
Always?
Can we hear one?
Oh? Those are private? Okay? Right, Sorry, I can't give with my secrets.
Okay, fair enough, fair enough.
While everybody it's working for her, so feel free to adopt it if necessary.
Your mom's a great support system for you, you've said.
She even sometimes sends you tape of opponents that are coming up to help you prep. She also has a habit of sending one particular kind of text. If you have a bad game or lose, can you tell us what that is?
Yeah, it's usually just like a heart. That's how I know I've had a terrible game. If I have like a game, it's there's critique, But if it was bad, it's a heart, and I'm like, oh that okay, I'm gonna have to go review the film very quickly.
It's like the opposite of no notes. It's like all notes, but I'm just gonna stick with a heart.
Yeah.
You once said that some of the best advice you've gotten is come up for air.
Why did that resonate with you?
I think in a profession like this, we're constantly demanding more of ourselves. Where you know, sometimes in the middle of the season, you feel like you're under the think, you're in the think, you're you're almost in war, right, it's game after game after game. Midweek, you're in practice, you're you know, you're doing a double day, you're doing this, that and the other. And I think sometimes that can get heavy, that can weigh on you. If you're not
performing well, if the team's not doing well. It's easy to dwell in those low points, and I think when I heard that quote, it was kind of a reminder of you know, you don't have to carry all of that heaviness all the time, right. The point is to climb your obstacles, not to carry them. And I think
you come up for air, you get perspective. You can kind of you know, see the see the bigger perspective and see what you're doing, and then you can hone back in and kind of narrow down what you're working on, break it into little bits. But if you don't come up for air, right, I think you're you're drowning rather than being able to kind of bit by bit paddle paddle your way out.
That might be useful for the next four years and one and a half months Speed round to close. You're still taking piano and saxophone lessons. Saxophone, yes, okay, what's the go to song? If someone's like, play us something, show us you can play Okay.
See I'm still like hot cross Buns amazing. Yeah. My instructor I started in Seattle and this man was so kind. I would as a high achieving athlete, I'm not used to being bad at things, and so I was like, I need to the term I was, I like to need to microdose failure, like I need to go be bad at something and like have a low stakes failure because then you know, when you're failing on the like in practice, you just you're you're better able to deal with it. So I was like, let me go do saxophone.
I'm in this lesson and he's like okay, like put this key here and blow and I would go and just absolutely no noise would come out, and he was like, you're doing so great. It's like, no, what, No, I'm not. He was like okay, I mean, yeah, you're right. I was like, just just give it to me straight.
No.
He was like, yeah that was bad. But Hot Cross Buns, Yeah, yeah, it's so funny to come out of a saxophone.
It's so funny to use that song because I was all stayed in clarinet in case Saymon was wondering, and I tried to take up guitar in college and I was like, oh, I'm unwilling to play Hot Cross Buns for two hours and be impressed. I immediately want to know the best and most important songs, and I have no patience at this age.
I said, how long will it take me to be able to improve? He said A long time right. I don't like that answer.
Noah, Literally, Mish and I producer mich and I were just exchanging looks because literally yesterday we had a conversation about how they're taking up piano to fail so that they can learn how to be bad at something and be okay with it. I am still unwilling to do that, but I am going to take this note from both.
Of you and think about it. Once I find something i'm bad at.
Start there.
Yeah, just getting I can just do math every day and I get reminded math is hard.
Okay.
Last question, Your dog Bo shares a birthday with Do they have anything in common?
They're both tauruses.
I actually don't really know how it came to be that we decided his birthday was Roses. I simply think Rose said his birthday should be mine, and we all said, okay. Honestly, they're both the goofiest, quirkiest, long legged, skinny little things you've ever seen, athletic silly humans. Rose level. I feel like people know now it is the biggest pranker I've ever met in my whole life. So I would like to think Bo has gotten some of that silliness I love about him.
If anyone doesn't know anything about Rose and they want to get to the heart of it, just google Rose Celine Dion Yes, and that will be everything you need to know. Alana, thanks so much for giving us time. Congrats on such a great season.
Thank you, Thank you guys, a lot of cook everybody.
Thanks again to Alana for hopping on and joining us. We got to take another break stick around welcome back slices. As always, 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. You remember that Billa Jean King cup mascot we fell in love with back in Malaga. Well, I was on a flight with one of bjk's team members back to the States
raving about this thing. We called it Bali Jen King, But it turns out her name is Nettie King and she's got an insta at Nettie King underscore BJK Cup. That's Nettie, n Ettie. This thing is wild. Just hit follow I promise you won't be disappointed. Also, thanks to everyone who sent in Thanksgiving, TV and movie Rex including a voicemail suggestion from a certified slice named Michelle out of Lexington, South Carolina.
Take a listen, Hello, Senior Slices, this is Michelle, thanksgiving me The recommendation one that maybe you're not familiar with that I've always enjoyed. It's called What's Cooking?
With a question mark.
I see that it streams on Prime, so you should be.
Able to find it.
It's got a wonderful, pretty female dominated cast, and don't watch it when you're hungry, or you will go and absolutely gorge yourself on food. So if you haven't seen it, definitely given a watch.
Love the show.
Thanks good looking out Michelle.
Some others that got lots of mentions on social media w Kripe and Cincinnati Turkey's Away, How I Met Your Mother, The Slapsgiving Episode, The West Wing, Shibballeth, all of the bobs Burgers Thanksgiving apps. I have literally never seen a single episode of Bob's Burger's, and everyone is raving.
Is that your show? Meiche Yes, and you're absolutely insane for having never seen an episode. I cannot you know that? That's my ring tone.
Yeah, on my mind.
It's so good it's worth watching it's the ultimate relaxation decompression show, and everyone loves the Thanksgiving ups, so okay, that's a good one. And then a lot of people shouted out episodes of Cheers, Gilmore, Girls, Darman, Greg, The New Girl, Roseanne, Gossip Girl, and Mad About You.
Tons of votes.
Two for the movies Pieces of April, Dutch and Home for the Holidays, and obviously the Goat, planes, trains, and automobiles.
So thanks slices.
The couch is calling and we now have a very long list of things to watch this week. You can always email us at good Game at wondermediaetwork dot com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two o four fifty seventy.
Now, while you're.
Lounging around watching all those shows this holiday week, don't forget to pick up your bone and subscribe, rate and review.
It's super easy.
Watch trying something new, rating five out of five. We're terrified, but this is good for us review. Just like a lot of cooks said, the best way to handle failure and learn how to survive and grow from loss is to be intentional about failing. The older we get, the more we're used to competence and the harderness to do things we're bad at, or to try things you've never
done before. But that kind of stagnancy isn't just boring and unhealthy, It's likely to set you up for some major anxiety when you got a new challenge or some sort of activity in front of you that you cannot avoid. So get used to trying new things, get used to sucking at stuff when you start, and then learn how great it feels when you improve. Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow when we chat with beloved US women's national team legend and
Angel City co owner Lauren Holliday. Good Game, Milana, Good Game, UCLA. You the fear of up get in Losers were micro dosing failure. 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 Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and Lindsay Cradowell. Production assistants from Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain