Welcome to the Good Place

Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, the daily women's sports show you've always wanted. Even more than coach Cheryl Reeve wants us all to stop asking about the Olympic roster at links games.

We're going to tell you all about us at a.

Few, but first we start every show by giving you what you need to know today. The US women's national soccer team played its final Olympic sendoff match last night against Costa Rica in Washington, DC, and that's it for tune ups. Next time they play, it's for keeps. The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics is just over one week away on Friday, July twenty six, but Olympic soccer actually begins a few days before that, so the US opens up its tournament on Thursday, July twenty fifth with

Just check out the photo shoot and it'll make sense.

This is just another example of the incredible versatility of all these WNBA athletes, and especially this rookie class. They're bringing so much flavor, so much personality, and really handling the bright spotlight so well. And if you just remember the early days of the w where players look like they were exclusively allowed to shop at Ann Taylor, it

The Fever are in a.

Battle with the Chicago Sky for eighth seed, and that's a last playoff spot come end of the regular season. Meanwhile, the Wings are talented, but struggling and inconsistency has pushed them down to last place in the league. The only good news about that is producer Misha's mystics aren't last anymore. But we'll talk some about that later. Game tips off at seven thirty pm Eastern on ESPN. Also, of course, WNBA All Star Game is this weekend, with the US

But I feel like that would be a little forward, right.

I mean, you don't even know me, and I certainly can't introduce a whole other person already. I haven't even bought you dinner, So I feel like maybe a little for play, right, It's like, take a little moment to get to know each other.

I'm Sarah Spain.

You might know me from seeing me on Around the Horn on ESPN, perhaps intentionally, or maybe just at an airport or a gym or in a restaurant, because that show is everywhere and it's the one with the little faces in the boxes. If you haven't seen it, maybe you saw me on Sports Center Outside the Lines. E's sixty highly questionable Dan Levittard show, my old podcast on ESPN.

That's what she said, My.

Old radio shows Spain and Fifth it's Izzy in Spain, Spain and Prim the trifecta.

YadA, YadA, YadA.

Maybe we even listened to back when I started my career in Chicago at ESPN one thousand or Mouthpiece Sports.

Maybe we even met at a bar in La in my twenties.

The point is, I have been at this for a while, like twenty years, and that's included spending the last fourteen covering both men's and women's sports for ESPN. And I'm looking around as we start this show and thinking about how I've really dreamed of the kind of women's sports

It was bad. It was really bad, y'all.

I'm telling you, youngsters, you would not last an hour in the asylum where they raised me when I tell you that if you used to google best female athletes, you only got lists of the hottest ones.

That is not an exaggeration.

Top results every time, not the best athletes, but the hottest female athletes. And the same with media hottest sportscaster list or endless blogs about which women you want to have sex with and also why women were ruining sports. Now that's just my Twitter mentions, just kidding, sort of, But for real, I've watched the landscape change, and they've stopped demanding the sort of homogenized idea of drinking beer, eating a steak, and quoting bro movies as the only

And that's what we want to do here on Good Game.

We're going to talk about how sometimes things look a little different in women's sports. Those where else but women's sports moments? Where else but women's sports do we see a player help launch a brand new professional hockey league, lead her team to the first ever championship win in that league, and then take a victory lap with her ten month old son in her arms. That's Kendall Coin

One of them's a winner and one just took a huge l. I can't wait to get into that.

I can't wait to talk to some power couples about those moments. Those are really cool only women's sports moments. Players that are dating married exes who really can hate each other.

I want to talk about that.

I also want to talk about embracing new superstars while remembering that what's happening.

Now took decades and decades to build.

I'm here because women before me were covering sports when they weren't even allowed inside locker rooms. And the athletes are here because for centuries women just wanted to play without the pay and the fame and the celebrity and the coverage and the sponsorships. And because of all those women, today's athletes are getting these incredible opportunities. It's a little segment we're gonna call Yes and because in a previous life, I wanted to be a comedian.

Actually I still do.

So if Louren Michaels is listening, and I'm sure he is, I will blow this podcast off to be on Saturday at Live in a second, won't even think about it twice. Very happy about this opportunity, though, so if Lauren is not listening, my time at Second City and my time in improv taught me these magical words, this way of

Lord too.

It's hard in part because we know it can be tough to find coverage of those moments of the games and the events that you're watching. I know we're all sort of trading jokes on social and dipping into group chats to spill the tea about stuff, and scanning different websites looking to find an update on a roster drop or an injury. Well, we want to be all that

I don't know what we're gonna call you guys. We need a name. We need a name for the We need a name for our listeners. What do you want to be called?

You're gonna be with us here every day, right, five days a week. Right, You're gonna be here, so uh, you deserve a quality name. So email or call us tell us what you want to be called. Eight seven two two oh four fifty seventy is the number to call us. Eight seven two two oh four fifty seventy. Or you can email us good Game at wondermedianetwork dot com,

You have thirty seconds or less.

Woof well first and foremost, just happy to be here. No, I am a former d one hooper. That's why I claim to fame. Played for about sixteen years now. I want to play pickup. I just kind of run corner at the corner and shoot threes and try to stay out of the way.

Not about defense, any defense, Oh never.

I didn't play defense when I was a college athlete. No, absolutely not. Yeah, not a defensive stalwart, but yeah, I grew up with the WNBA. I grew up watching athletes like Serena in Abby Womba and Alison Felix in their prime. So I feel so lucky now to be working in a job where that's my priority. Women's sports is my priority, because I just feel like, you know, this space opens up the conversation to so many fun, entertaining, educational and important stuff.

That we all need to be talking about. So just happy to be here, Happy to be working with.

Sarah and Alex, and can't wait, can't wait, keep doing this thing.

Love it Okay, Alex. Everything that everyone needs to know about you thirty seconds least.

Oh man, Well, I am also extremely excited to be here. Also a college athlete, though I would say that maybe doesn't impact my identity as much as it does for other college athletes. I played field hockey at Wellesley, which was a women's college, and honestly, the part of it that impacted me the most, though, was going to a women's college where we didn't have to share resources with a football team. We didn't have to share resources with men's basketball teams.

Wellesley, the Lady Anything, the Lady stick holders. What's the Wellesley mascot? The blue? The blue? What you ask? We don't know. Cornell's big Red. I'm like, big Red.

What?

And then we just have a bear, which no one explains.

But yeah, that experience impacted my perspective to be able to say, what would the world look like if women's sports were the priority? And I interned at my first Olympics in twenty twelve because I was a huge Olympics nerd still am, and I remember on day one of that I was like, how do you make this your

And still an Olympics expert. I'm so excited that this show is starting with the Olympics about to start, because Alex is going to shine with every little detail and fact and I'm sure great stories about interviews and re search and trips and everything you've done around the Olympics in the past. So pumped for everything that y'all are going to bring to the table and the conversation and just so excited to get started.

And yeah, that's us, just a.

Couple of folks standing in front of a podcast Mike asking you to love them. We're good game with Sarah Spain. Thanks for joining us. After the break, the Bird's the word, Sue Bird. We're back and we have an extra special guest that's going to join us on Friday.

But we wanted to give you a little bit of.

A tease because she's so special and technically I believe a little bit my boss in this new endeavor, so we want to make sure she feels very appreciated. It's the legendary Sue Bird. So a couple things we talked about that I want to just give you a little tease of one.

I'm so pumped about.

I somehow miss this, despite pretty much stalking Sue and all of her social media and all of her announcements, I had not heard about this new show that she and her fiancee, Meghan Rapino, and their production company are putting together. And when she dropped this news during our interview, well, I mean you could basically hear me squealing.

Here it is.

We recently announced we're going to do like a reality show around the dating lives of of women's athletes.

No way, where did you announce it? How do miss this?

It's like a touch more, which is me and Megan's production company in partnership with Together, but also partnership with Bunna Murray. Does I mean they're like the wizards of this?

Oh my wait wait wait wait wait more details details.

Basically yeah, I mean we're going to follow you know, any female athlete that wants to be a part of it. We're going to follow their dating lives. So whether it's people who are in relationships mary, partner, husband, white, doesn't matter, all the above, everything in between, single dating, you know, singing, mingled and just like, yeah, we don't want it to be it's not gonna it's not gonna start out as some salacious thing.

So it's going to turn into Fantasy Island.

It's going to turn Remember you remember that show, wasn't it Fantasy Island?

America can't stop talking about Temptation Island.

I never watched it.

I never literally watched it with my dad. I don't know. Weird that was when we were growing up. It was like they sent couples to a place.

And they were like, either this will bring you closer together, or you'll all start having sex with each other instead, Like I feel.

Like that's like that. I feel like that could be this show. It's like, hey, we have a bunch of them. I might have teammates. You might have teammates dating.

You might have you know, like inter league dating.

Yeah, different sports, you name it.

I also really enjoyed talking to Sue about the current state of the WNBA and just how close she was to being one of the beneficiaries of all of the hard work she put in in her twenty years in the league, and whether there was like a little bit of a mixed vibe about just how much the league has blown up this year. You really like made the

I'm in a pretty good place about it. I'll say, like I'll say, like I was gonna say ninety ten, then I was gonna say eighty twenty, So we'll go eighty five. Just the difference eighty five to fifteen. I mean, of course there's a part of me that wishes I could play, but simultaneously, I don't wish I could play at forties three, Like if I was twenty three, Uh, forget it. I would love to be able to go back in time and be a twenty three year old

We always knew that.

The one thing I know, I always said throughout my career. It's like at times we will be like what needs to change in marketing and in business and in this and then that, and I'm like, yeah, I don't know, but what I do know is the product on the floor like that has sustained like that has not just sustained that has gotten better. We've done our part.

You can hear the full interview with the legendary Sue Bird on Friday's episode, so make sure to come back. But while we're talking WNBA here and this new look extra popular, more broadcasts, more eyeballs, more sponsors than ever, I feel like some ticket holders are starting to feel the pain of the league's increase popularity in the worst possible way, which is their pocketbook, their ticket prices. And Misha,

My initial reaction is it's a necessary evil, right, it's you know, I'm coming into this from a situation where my parents were taking me to WNBA games when I was two feet long for you know, five cents in a smile from a little baby.

Like it was that we need a check mark for every time me she reminds us of how young she is, because you know what, there's gonna be a noise.

It's gonna be like a baby like. I don't know what that was.

That's sound of more like a goat, but you need like a baby noise for every time Mesh reminds all of us that she's the youngest one here.

She was in diapers when the WIBA started. Yeah, okay, carry out.

We're gonna get a little button that I can press every time I come on like that go. You know, initial reaction, it's a necessary evil. I hate that it's probably going to price people out of certain seats. The hope is that they can figure out a way to make sure that the gen and Mission big sections that most folks who are bringing families those can remain a little bit more affordable. But then those folks who want to sit courtside and flash all the Gucci and Prada and all that stuff.

Young can pay a few extra dollars.

Yeah, I mean, I always feel bad for the diehards that get priced out, but I think this bothers me a lot more when it's a men's league that's been around forever and they're really just taking advantage of fans and doing it repeatedly year after year in ways that don't feel like necessitated by the market or any other reason.

In this case, it feels sort of necessary. But it's a bummer. It's a bummer for a lot of folks. But like you said, you got to get that money.

And like I think, if you ask those diehard fans if they wanted the players that they love to get paid more, and they wanted better marketing and you know, uniforms and merch and all the things that cost money behind the scenes, they would say yes. And unfortunately it's our money that's paying for it. We'll get into more conversations about that as we get more information from the different teams that are potentially thinking about up in those prices.

We're just like you know, ask you a question, You're still here and so are we. Oh my god, I love that for you and for us.

We've had such a good time talking at you today, but we do want to hear back from you, because otherwise we're definitely going to think you're just not that into us. So in honor of the next episode of the Serena doc hitting Tonight, I want you to tell us the female athlete that you most would like to see a documentary about. Hit us up on our email good Game at Wondermedia network dot com or on social

Let's be a l e x a zz I.

Okay, before you go, We love that you're here and 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 and it's a super super easy one. Just subscribe to the podcast. Just subscribe to Good Game with Sarah Spain. It's really important that you subscribe and follow so quick that little button wherever you're listening. That way you don't ever miss a show. We would also love it if you would help us out by rating and reviewing the show.

It's super easy. You just scroll down.

Wherever you're listening until you see the stars, click five a be and leave us a review and we might even read it on the show.

Don't be scared. Rating and reviewing is super easy.

In fact, I will show you twizzlers rating five out of five stars.

Review Delicious Ropes.

Of Joy, Eat them alone or drink your orange crush through a Twizzler straw. Don't sleep on Twizzlers see Super Easy Go, give it a try and thanks for listening. Good Game, Serena, Good Game, cam Brink you ACLS. 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

And Emily Rudder.

Our editors are Jenny Kaplan, Emily Rudder, Brittany Martinez and Grace Lynch.

Production assistants from Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain