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Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're wondering how much negative feedback it'll take for the new NWSL Boston team to change its name, marketing approach, and whole general vibe. Cool colors, though.

On today's show, we'll be talking with longtime ESPN writer Michael Volpel about the WNBA Finals ahead of Game 3. Plus, we ask why TooManyBalls.com is a thing in 2024. We hear from you, Slices, and we embrace the beginning of hoodie season. It's all coming up right after this.

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end of a busy day. From thought-provoking novels to powerful poetry, we'll explore the stories that shape our culture. Listen to Black Lit on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, 1974. George Foreman was champion of the world. Ali was smart and he was handsome. Story behind the Rumble in the Jungle is like a Hollywood movie. But that is only half the story. There's also James Brown, Bill Withers, B.B. King, Miriam Akiba. All the biggest black artists on the planet. Together in Africa. It was a big deal. Listen to Rumble, Ali.

Foreman, and the soul of 74 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This season on the new podcast, Rip Current.

Hear episodes of Rip Current early and completely ad-free and receive exclusive bonus content by subscribing to iHeart True Crime Plus only on Apple Podcasts. I'm NK, and this is Basket Case. What is wrong with me? A show about the ways that mental illness is shaped by not just biology... Swaps of different meds. ...but by culture and society. By looking closely at the conditions that cause mental distress, I find out why so many of us are struggling to feel sane...

what we can do about it, and why we should care. Oh, look at you giving me therapy, girl. Listen to Basket Case every Tuesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back, Orange Slices. Here's what you need to know today.

In WNBA news, Game 3 of the Finals is tonight, and the Minnesota Lynx are at home for the first time in the series. They'll try to avoid dropping a game in front of the crowd at Target Center after they stole one on New York Liberty turf in Game 1 of the series. Coverage begins with WNBA countdown on ESPN at 7.30 Eastern, and the game tips at 8. We'll have more on that matchup with our interview later in the show.

A cool note, by the way, the duel between Minnesota and New York is currently on pace to set a viewership record for a five-game series. So last Thursday's game on ESPN had the largest audience for game one of a WNBA finals series in league history with 1.14 million viewers. Pretty awesome.

In NWSL news, NWSL Boston, set to begin play in 2026, has a name, Boss Nation Football Club, BOS. It's an anagram for the term Bostonian. The team revealed that championship green will be the primary color with several accent colors. Per a news release, quote, relentless raspberry, loyal charcoal, daring pink,

Rise Yellow, and Orange Press, which speak to the rich diversity of Boston's neighborhoods and the team's values and signal a new era in the city's sports landscape. The name, the hype video, the landing page, which was TooManyBalls.com, are getting mixed reviews, to put it kindly. More on that in a moment.

Meantime, more soccer news. We told you about the three-point deduction and $200,000 fine Angel City FC received for exceeding the league's salary cap this season. While on Monday, the club pushed back a little. ACFC released a statement expressing disappointment with the three-point deduction and more. The statement reads in part, quote, We disagreed with one aspect of the league's conclusions. Our understanding, based on the league's salary cap rules, was that child care payments do not count against the salary cap.

The statement continued, we believe that ACFC did not exceed the salary cap and formally requested a reconsideration of the three-point reduction, end quote.

The league stood firm on the deduction, denying ACFC's appeal. And the NWSL rules are actually pretty clear-cut on this, so it's surprising that ACFC used this defense. According to Steph Young of The Athletic, per last year and this year's competition manual, it hasn't changed, players with kids can receive a dependent care stipend up to the IRS maximum, $5,000, without a hit to the salary cap. But, quote, any amount in excess of the IRS annual maximum will count against the team's salary cap.

We'll keep you updated on this story as more reporting comes out.

In hockey news, the PWHL just released its regular season schedule, and the season gets underway one month earlier than last year. The first puck drops November 30th, and the league's six teams will each play 30 games in the regular season. That's six more than last year. Regular season wraps up on May 3rd, 2025. Last season, Minnesota won the Walter Cup, beating Boston in a five-game final series for the ages, and I'm expecting more drama this season. And hoping for some fresh jerseys, along with the new team names and logos that dropped in the offseason.

College Hoops, we're getting close to one of the most anticipated women's college basketball seasons ever.

ever, and the AP dropped its preseason top 25 list. Dawn Staley's reigning champion South Carolina Gamecocks are in the top spot, followed by UConn, USC, and Texas. Notably, Iowa, Stanford, and Tennessee all received votes but didn't crack the list. This year feels primed for some historic performances. And don't worry, we'll get you all the news and notes you need before the season tips off on November 4th, just 19 days from today.

Also, interesting tidbit. Conferences are releasing their picks for preseason player awards, and the SEC has three, yes, three co-preseason players of the year. There was a three-way tie in the voting between Texas' Madison Booker and Flage Johnson and Anissa Morrow, both from LSU. Morrow and Johnson were number two and number three in scoring behind Angel Reese for the Tigers last season, and Booker led the way for the Longhorns. Five other players in the conference also received player of the year votes.

Finally, a quick correction. The other day we said the Seattle rain hadn't missed the postseason since 2013. They were actually last on the outside looking in in 2017. We apologize for the error. Those responsible have been sacked.

And another note from me here. When we talked Liberty on Monday, I mentioned Benajelene Hamilton played for the Libs during their Westchester County Center days, but she actually got to New York in 2021, one year after the franchise started playing at Barclays Center. We apologize again for the error. Those responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked have been sacked. And if you're confused, watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you heathens. All right, before we get to today's interview, we have to talk Boss Nation real quick. And

Okay, the team name, the logo, the brand, they were all introduced using the campaign Too Many Bowls.

a pun about the number of famous men's sports teams in Boston, and the need for more women's sports. Now, first, the video was conspicuously missing any mention of the town's women's professional hockey team, PWHL Boston, and the unusual team name, Boss Nation. It's, like I said, an anagram of Bostonian, and per a statement, quote, doesn't just represent the fans. It signifies a collective identity made up entirely of its fan base. Hmm.

Alex, we're going to get into more of this tomorrow, but as a greater Boston area fan, I'm going to need your first reaction. To me, Boss Nation, my first thought was this is the bad name that you put in the mix to make your good name or your mediocre name stand out and really shine, right? It's like the throwaway. Like, I just need some fluff in here to make sure the people like the thing I like. That being said, you know,

Jennifer Epstein was on CBS Mornings Plus to announce it wearing, I thought, a pretty cool jacket with the Boss Nation logo in a circle. Like, I like that branding. I think the name is weird. I'm not usually somebody that feels really strongly one way or the other about new names. You know, I think it's hard actually to come up with a team name in the year 2024. We look back on old men's team names and it's like bizarre.

if you were to name a team the Red Sox this year, people would be so mad. What a stupid name. So I think the bar is a lot higher. That being said, I think the campaign is way worse than the name. The fact that PWHL Boston is totally erased, the fact that Boston has been a women's hockey city even before the PWHL with the Boston pride winning titles and having banners, like

It just is so bad to me that they erased another women's pro team in order to focus on a Too Many Balls campaign. Yeah, I mean, the name's just weird to me. I don't hate it. I'm not, like, offended by it, but it's just weird. It makes me think it'd be, like, sponsored by, like, Hugo Boss. It just sounds like it'd be more of, like, a...

fashion campaign than a sports team like boss nation. Um, also I agree with you on the too many balls. It feels like we're so far past that. Like that feels very late nineties, early two thousands, like femme power was about like, we don't need that anymore. Um,

Now, not only does it feel like there's so much for women's sports to stand on on its own that doesn't have to be a pushing back on men, but also, like, with the whole trans conversation, like, getting rid of balls thing also just feels...

and unnecessary. Like, I said this on Twitter, but, like, for the olds among us, it feels like there'd be a website called TooManyBalls.com that would be competing with the other bro-y sports blogs that were, like, the beginning of the wild, wild west of sports blogs back in the day. The Kissing Susie Colber with Leather Sports by Brooks, where it was, like, half hot chicks and half sports content. Like, it feels of that time, so it's very strange to see it right now. And, like, I'm all for dick jokes and ball jokes. It just doesn't feel like the way to best...

professionally and maturely and in a cool way offer up a new product. So that I didn't like. I do love the colors, but I'm confused because they look like they're black and green. And then based on the press release, it's green and then like 11 other colors. So I'm not sure where that's going to go. Which are also the same colors as PWHL Boston, which is also now Boston Fleet. I have to get in the habit of saying that name. Yeah. So they

They picked the same colors but didn't acknowledge their existence. And also worth noting, there was a Boston Breakers soccer team in Boston. I understand wanting to separate yourself from that team, how the franchise went, everything else. But there almost feels like there could be at least a reference of sort of Phoenix rising from the ashes thing as opposed to a complete elimination of the existence of that team. It just, the whole thing feels meh.

Even the press release has a line that is playfully pointing out that in a city filled with championships, its sports heroes need not all be male. Like, okay, well, what about Hillary Knight?

Right. Oh, I think it's honestly it's it's getting back to your point, Sarah, of like what era this feels like it's from. And to me, it just feels like a red flag of if this is the campaign, what is it signifying about what else is happening behind the scenes in terms of the professional layout of this team? Completely agree. We don't want to make any snap judgments, but it does feel like.

It's a try hard from a different time. And it feels like we're in a different place now. And I really hope that this is not indicative of how the larger team and franchise will be run and managed. Okay.

Much more on this tomorrow. We got to take a quick break. But first, I want to tell y'all that we got a survey that we want you orange slices to fill out. It's really important to us. We are in the business of constant improvement here and we need your help to do it. So if you visit the link in the episode notes, it'll take two minutes of your time. Alex, Misha, and I would really appreciate it. And

one lucky participant will win a sports prize pack. So you know you want to fill it out now. I promise it's super quick, super helpful to us. Thank you. When we come back, Michael Vogel on who's got the edge in game three, the Lynx or the Lynx.

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Hey, it's Mike and Ian. We're the hosts of How to Do Everything from NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Each week, we take your questions and find someone much smarter than us to answer them. Questions like, how do you survive the Bermuda Triangle?

How do you find a date inside the Bermuda Triangle? We can't help you, but we will find someone who can. Listen to the How to Do Everything podcast on iHeartRadio.

Joining us now, an ESPN senior writer who has reported on women's sports for the worldwide leader since 1996, a Mizzou grad that first cut his teeth in newspapers. In 2022, he received the Kurt Gowdy Media Award for Print Media from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for contributions to basketball media. He's a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan, but we'll try not to hold that against him. It's Michael Volpel. What's up, Michael?

How are you doing, Sarah? I think we were both equally unhappy during this baseball season. Yeah, I heard it's still going on, but who could keep track of those things? I'm just ready for spring training next year. Okay, let's talk hoops, because on Monday you dropped a comprehensive history of the Liberty franchise. You've been covering ball since the mid-'90s.

So I want to know what stands out to you from those early days of the Liberty, because I loved reading about, you know, Rebecca Lobo telling you Rosie O'Donnell, Tyra Banks, Gregory Hines, Joan Jett, Penny Marshall, all these folks courtside. And there were huge fan bases then. Like it was really a thing in the 90s to be a Liberty fan. What stands out to you from back then?

It was a lot of fun going to those games. And I think those teams were teams that embodied New York. And the interesting thing about that, Sarah, is there was only...

One, I say true New Yorker, Sue Wicks, who's as New York as New York gets. But you had people from all over the country, including Teresa Weatherspoon from very little town, Pineland, Texas. And they all came to New York and became New Yorkers. Sue Wicks told me something I thought was sort of you could use this phrase.

As an example of any occupation, she said people go to New York to become who they are. And I think that's what that group did. And you're right. There were a lot of celebrities there. They were a fun team to watch. And it was an atmosphere that I think really helped propel the early years of the WB.

On a recent show, we talked about an excerpt from Those Guys Have All the Fun, the book about ESPN, the oral history. And one of the things that came up was that an ESPN exec was intentional about trying to bury the WNBA, wasn't a fan, wanted to put it on the side channels, and was effective in sort of preventing the growth that might have happened.

Do you think that that's the main reason that when we hear some of these statistics, like biggest audience since, and it's usually the late 90s or highest attendance since, and it's sometimes back in the early years, that those halcyon days for the Liberty and other teams that were early in the W could have resulted in even more growth and we could be even further along than we are now, if not for some of the intention of people in holding the league back?

I think that's a fair thing to say, Sarah. You understand that the culture that we were dealing with, which was openly hostile, is one thing for television executives to say, you know what, I'm not sure this is going to work. We've got to make business decisions.

I don't feel like a lot of the decisions that got made and unfortunately sometimes still get made with women's sports is coming all the time from people who don't have other agendas. They may not.

I will give them some credit. They may not always understand their own biases, but there's definitely biases. And I found it interesting. People can, you know, you mentioned that people can figure out who this was because this gentleman was right. We already mentioned it on the show. Yeah. No, I think what I find interesting in sort of a fun, ironic way.

is he went to the University of Iowa. And I think we know that somebody from the University of Iowa has really helped. These days, not sure it would go the same. Yeah, exactly. But the way that you describe that, which is very true, that at least initially there was so much positive forward momentum, and then there was some intentional actions that stopped that momentum.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's interesting. And we talked about it when I was still full-time at ESPN and now even part-time at ESPN, that it's both such a massive part of the rights packages and highlighting women's athletes and giving amazing storytelling. And also, it feels like there are other ways that it could be using its power and its influence effectively.

and certainly feels like maybe it did at that time. And so we're looking at incredible, huge growth now, but we also maybe could be further along, if not for some of those stretches where people were acting with intention to hold it back. In that Liberty story that you wrote, you accurately dubbed the Liberty franchise history as tortured. 19 playoff appearances, five finals appearances, and no titles yet for the Libs. What has to change for New York to finally get the victory this year?

They have the talent. You know, we've seen that the last two years by bringing in, especially bringing in Brianna Stewart, you know, at in her prime years, the biggest free agent signing we've seen in the league.

And the fact that you have another MVP in Jonquil Jones, who's really adjusted her game to play well with Brianna Stewart. I think Sabrina Unescu has grown up so much right before our eyes. That's her game, Sarah, because you know how good she was in college, but that game had to evolve. She's done that. And I also think she's just a really good, smart leader for this group. Can they get past...

Can they get past their history? And this is what I think, you know, this is a fan. It's almost, I would say, eerie sometimes how franchises in different sports are.

Even though everybody who was involved in that history 25, 30 years ago is no longer with the team. Those histories can still weigh on teams and it can take a while. They have slain one demon, if you will. They got past that.

They're Las Vegas aces, but that didn't get them a championship, right? They still have to jump one more hurdle. It's interesting you say that because I actually remember on Around the Horn talking about the Cubs during their 2016 World Series run and saying to all the fans who were losing their minds about the deficit they had dug for themselves that,

And how they were all going to feel the weight of 100 plus years of not having one. And I said, the longest tenured person on the team is Anthony Rizzo, which I believe at the time was eight years. He is not carrying around your 70 years of disappointed fandom, right? Like most of these people have only been around for a couple of years. And of course they get it.

But it's not the same. And I hope that that's the case for the Liberty as well, that yes, they know that they're trying to end this streak of no franchise titles. But also they, in particular, folks like Brianna, Courtney VanderSloot, like people have won elsewhere and they come to this perhaps with a little bit less of the sphincter tightening than the fans of the Liberty who have felt this way for the entirety of the franchise's existence. You know, you mentioned Sabrina Nescu.

Gosh, you're so right. Her game has changed this year in ways that have been so important to this team.

And in this series, she was decent numbers in game one, but terrible shooting percentage. And then in game two, effective as a scorer in the first half and then became a facilitator and defender in the second half, which was just what the team needed as other folks like Benajian, Lainey Hamilton, and Brianna Stewart were scoring well. Can you put in perspective how important her improvement was for this year's team, particularly during stretches where Courtney Vandersloot had to be out and wasn't available for the team and Saab stepped up as more of a point guard type player?

That's exactly what happened. You know, unfortunately, very sadly, Courtney van der Sloot lost her mom. She did have a long battle with cancer. So Courtney was out for several games. And during that time, Sabrina, you know, really had to be a rock for the franchise in terms of playing the point guard role.

It is so insightful that you bring up the differences between games one and two because you could look at – I think Sabrina only took one shot in the second half. And some people, if you just look at a box score, you might say, oh, well, what happened? She had 14 points. Well, what happened is she adjusted to the defense that Minnesota was playing. And as you said, she became a facilitator and defender.

I think that made a big difference because when you're somebody who can score the way she does, sometimes you have to realize they're really selling out on me. I can help this team win other ways. And she said something actually today right before the Liberty practice. She said, I don't want to be the type of player that teams can say if we stop her from shooting, we can beat the Liberty. And that's

That is exactly what you're talking about. Yeah. Being a multifaceted threat. Yeah. Yeah. That's great that she gets that. All right. Game three shifts to Minneapolis. What do you see changing at the Target Center?

Obviously, you're going to have the different vibe, but this is a Liberty team that had the best road record in the league. So I think they're not going in intimidated, but it is going to be very loud, very huge crowd. I think they're hoping they're going to get a sellout for this. But from a strategy standpoint, it'll be interesting to see what

what Minnesota tries to do in this case to take away Sabrina's facilitating. Like, you know, they're going to say, look, maybe now we're going to try to force her back into a little bit more of a scoring role. What are they going to do with Benajelini, who turned out to be, you know, a player who really, really hurt them in game two?

That's what's so interesting about series, isn't it? It's like you really do see what teams will talk about adjustments sometimes. And you're like, I'm not sure what they adjusted. And in this series, we really have seen them adjust both game to game and in the course of games. So that'll be really interesting to see because, you know, whoever wins this game, obviously then becomes a favorite because it's a five game series. Yeah. Yeah.

New York Liberty are a super team, and you kind of just alluded to that. Like, good luck. Am I going to stop Saab or Brienne or John Quell or even Sloot or Benajia? They are a constellation of stars that excelled in Seattle and Connecticut and Chicago before joining the Liberty. The Lynx are a more balanced roster. These are great players that are supporting one true superstar in Nafisa Collier.

Can you talk about the job that Cheryl Reeve has done with this team, making it to the finals, tied 1-1 so far, with a very different kind of team than what the Liberty have? Yeah, you know, they started...

the free agency, you look at what they were facing, which is they bring five players back. Now, those are five good players because they include Nafisa Collier and Kayla McBride and Bridget Carlton, but they had to make the right decisions in free agency. And Cheryl Reeve has, you know, she's been in her

her job for 15 years, which as we know now in pro sports is, you know, several, it feels like several lifetimes. There are very few coaches in any of the other sports, pro sports in the United States that have been around that long. She has stayed true to this philosophy that you need to play our style of basketball and

When she went away from that, it's kind of burned her. And I think she realized that. She went to Courtney Williams and said, I know you don't think you're a point guard. I think you are. And I want you to be our point guard. And that she's responded fantastically to that. Same way with somebody like Lana Smith. She understood Lana Smith was a really, really good defensive player coming into her own.

The bottom line is, are they a super team? Maybe not as one word, super team, but are they a super team? You can describe them as such. Absolutely. This series features two teams with a bunch of long athletic players, 6'4 and up, running the floor, making graceful plays, hitting threes. You know, you got Brianna Stewart bringing the ball up the court, Leonie Feebich draining threes, Nafisa Collier, effortless fadeaway Jays that I call feedaways.

Are we looking at the future of the W in this series? Like, is it going to be a necessity to have these unicorns going forward in order to be successful? I think so. And I think those unicorns, again, like with any other sport, they start popping up. You know, they become less rare because people pattern their games after those types of players that they see. And, you know, it also, we're seeing...

We saw this with the Aces too, Sarah, the last two years. You have to have five scorers on the court. Now, you can say with the Aces, Kia Stokes wasn't really that, but it's almost like their four scorers are so good, it made up for her not being a fifth scorer. I think that's part of it. You have to have those scoring threats from every position and stretch the defense out the way that I think both of these teams are able to do. Yeah, it is interesting how...

Even Fi has talked about how watching Maya Moore helped turn her into the player that she is. And now there will be players coming up watching players like Fi and Bree and everybody else and realizing that that's going to be a necessity. I wish I'd had that when I was coming up. I was so tall. They were like, just stand in the paint. You'll figure it out. We don't need to work on your ball handling. Would have been helpful. Yeah, that's exactly what it was like. They wouldn't let you do anything else, I would imagine. Yeah. Yeah.

You know, Cheryl Reeves, so much turnover in the W and we've seen it even this season as we await the news of some new coaches at some, at some, at some teams, but she's managed to stick around for 15 seasons in Minnesota. How does she keep winning with different players and stars and looks?

She's a really good coach who's spent most of her career at the professional level. She started like most coaches do. So certainly most women coaches her age, there wasn't a pro league to go to. So she started in college, but then made that transition and really believed that that was where she was going to make her mark as a coach. So

She's worked with, you know, you look back to, you know, early in her career working with Bill Lambert. She's worked with a lot of different types of coaches. And I think just the way she breaks down games. I mean, I feel like Cheryl could coach anybody at any level because she just understands basketball that well.

But she's also has a really good relationship, obviously, with Glenn Taylor, the owner of the Timberwolves and the Lynx. And, you know, she's been able to, as an executive, help shape the team.

that she coaches. So it's, it's worked well. Now I know she's not the GM now she's president of basketball operations, but she wasn't a GM role. And she still obviously has a lot to do with the makeup of the months. When that works, it works great. When you've got the person deciding the talent they want and how to work with it and then working with it. Well, uh, before game one of the WNBA finals, commissioner Kathy Engelbert announced that the final starting next season will be best of seven. Do you approve of that change?

I do. I think it's nice to have it be uniform, you know, with the other pro sports, men's pro sports leagues in the United States. Yeah, and I just want more basketball, especially the way this series has been so far. The first round's still a best of three, but the format's going to be 1-1-1, giving each team at least one home playoff game. A lot of folks are going to say this is the Caitlin Clark effect, and that's probably part of it, but I've been rallying for this for years. I've

I feel like, and I was only a couple years in an ownership role with a team, but being in the meetings and talking about what a big deal it is for the bottom line when you can host a playoff game, make playoff merch, get fans through the doors for the playoff experience and make them want to come back to the regular season because they remember what it was like during those heightened moments of playoff play is huge. And I think

this is an absolutely slam dunk decision now that they have ability to travel and they've got the charter flights and more money for it. Do you agree with that change too? Yeah, a hundred percent. As you know, you know, when, when they started, you know, cause the leagues had a couple of different playoff formats when they started, it was, you start at the lower seed and then games two and three would be at the higher seat.

And that way you guaranteed you'd have games at both places, but it, that really didn't, it didn't seem really fair when you have a higher seed and you have to start out on the road. Then they, they went to the format in 2016 when they stopped having the conference, the conferences be split. So you just took top eight seeds and they went with a single elimination game in the first two rounds. And again, Sarah, that's a problem because there's no guarantee of having a home game. They,

Then this year, you know, then when they switched back and made it, you know, got rid of the single elimination, which I never liked the single elimination format. Then they have the issue of, like you said, you know,

Not only do you maybe have to go three in order to get a home game if you're the lower seed, then if you're the higher seed, you might have to win a series on the road, you know, best of three. This is the best way to do it. It's more travel. But as you said, you really don't want to have a team make the playoffs and their fans don't even get to see them play once at home.

I like the decision. I also think, you know, you're moving to 44 games. We're trying to keep up with contextualizing all the records being broken as they change the number of games being played, but they keep moving it on us. 44 games starting next year, but it feels necessary with the expansion that's coming next year. We're going to have Golden State Valkyries. We're going to have two more teams in 26. So does that also feel like sort of a necessity for the league to keep expanding the length of the regular season?

Yes, it does. And I thought for a while, um,

maybe 50 is like an ultimate sweet spot for the league. It, you know, it's, unless the league changed the calendar completely, they're never going to go to like an 80 game. Right. The 82 game, like the, the NBA, but, and it's, it's still going to be tough. Like, you know, you're still talking about having to start, you know, mid, maybe even they move it up a week to the first week of May. And,

and then ending, you know, at the, at the end of October, uh, then, and the women obviously also have to deal with the Olympics and the world championship. So every other year you have an international event that you have to work into the schedule as well. But, um, yeah, I think, I think that expansion of games, expansion of,

the league. Those are all things that show a healthy growth. Michael, you have been at it for a very, very long time, and I don't think you get the credit you deserve for all the work you've done. So at least on our show, we're giving you all the flowers. I mean, working in women's sports since 96 and holding it down at ESPN, while plenty of other people get a little bit more shine, you are doing yeoman's work. So thank you so much for coming on.

Well, thank you, Sarah. And you didn't call me a tomato head, which a lot of my old time Cubs fan friends did. And if you did, that would be okay. Thank you. Thank you very much for having me. I appreciate it. Thanks so much to Michael for hopping on with us. Excited for the game tonight. We have to take another break, but when we come back, port-a-potty run-ins of the pleasant variety. Stick around.

Hey, it's Mike and Ian. We're the hosts of How to Do Everything from NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Each week, we take your questions and find someone much smarter than us to answer them. Questions like, how do you survive the Bermuda Triangle? How do you find a date inside the Bermuda Triangle? We can't help you, but we will find someone who can. Listen to the How to Do Everything podcast on iHeartRadio.

Welcome back, Orange Slices. We've been hearing from y'all a lot, and we absolutely love it. The other day, Alex asked whether you've overheard some unexpected folks talking about women's sports. We still want more of those stories, but Stacey wrote in with a story that's a little less eavesdropping, more participating. She says, I went to the Gotham game recently and stayed in a hotel in New Jersey near the stadium. I met two women in the hotel elevator who clearly were also going to the game. We said our pleasantries, go Bats, and that was kind of it. And I said, I'm going to go to the

After the game, I ran into one of the women in the lobby and we started talking about the game. Turns out she lives a few miles from me in Boston and doesn't have anyone in her immediate life to talk women's sports with. So of course we became instant pals and are now texting during the WNBA games and catching up on the NWSL and soon to start up PWHL. Making plans to watch a game out soon. She is my first 360 degree women's sports friend.

Stacey, we freaking love this. Also, Alex and Misha heard from Twitter user AtLAC9, who made friends with the guy while waiting for the port-a-potty at a music festival in Boise, Idaho. She wrote, quote, Neither of us have any South Carolina connections, just both really love Asia Wilson.

Love that. Send us more, folks. Also, in Parent Trap and I'm Not Alone Here updates, shout out to at Saffron Monsoon 1 on Twitter, who wrote to me, quote, I was also horrified Misha and Alex were too young or something for Parent Trap, but wanted to let you know Hayley Mills was at the D23 Disney Expo this summer and sang Let's Get Together live on stage. Lots of people uploaded it on YouTube. I think you'd enjoy it.

You know what? I did enjoy it because I looked it up. And thank you, Saffron Monsoon. Also, Veronica Ai, who sent me the clip of the Hayley Mills twins singing Let's Get Together on Insta. You get it, Veronica. You really get it.

Finally, slices, dogs. We asked you all a lot of questions about dogs and you had answers. On Twitter, 69% of you said you can be a glue gal and a dog, which is wild to me. Disagree. 69% of you said you can be a superstar and a dog. 20% said dogs are role players. 11% said Kelsey Plum, aka Plum Dog, is the only one that can be both.

And to the question, is there a place for cats on the court? The leading vote getter with 41% was stop it, producer Alex. Though I did like Randall Potkey's answer, the place for cats, officiating. Meow, love that. Shout out to friend of the show, Shimmy Gray Miller, who said she and her wife and broadcast partner, Lisa Byington, talk about dogs all the time. She said in part, quote, yes, you can be a dog and a superstar slash all-star, but

DT, Kobe, Caitlyn, Sabrina, Kelsey, Angel. You can be a dog and a good role player, Mabry, Courtney, Benaja. You can't be a dog and a glue player. Two totally different categories and types of players. Alicia Clark is a glue, not a dog, FYI, end quote.

Also, Curvebilledthrasher on Instagram said wisely of a place for a cat on the court, quote, maybe a cat dog. Like, Fee could be considered cat-like. She observes, doesn't waste energy, carefully makes her move and goes in for the kill before you see her coming. But Fee still has that dog in her. You know what? You're on to something, Curvebilledthrasher. Because Fee is basically a big cat, which is like a cat dog, a lion, a tiger, a lynx. Yep. Fee being on the lynx is perfect.

Thanks, y'all. We love that you're listening, and we want you to get in the game every day, too. So here's our good game play of the day for today. Easy one. Clear your schedule tonight. Make sure you're tuned in for Game 3 of the WNBA Finals. And while you're watching, fill out our survey. We've linked to it in our show notes. You know you're going to have a commercial break. Take two seconds. Fill it out for us. Thank you. We always love to hear from you. Hit us up on email, goodgameatwondermedianetwork.com, or leave us a voicemail at 872-204-5070.

And don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. It's easy. Watch. The arrival of hoodie season. Rating. Five out of five cozies. Review. I love me some summer sun. I love warm weather. But that first stretch of fall when you throw on a hoodie and some soft pants and take a crisp walk outside. And then don't really wear anything but a hoodie for like the next four months.

Perfection. Now it's your turn. Rate and review. Thanks for listening, Slices. See you tomorrow. Good game, Michael. Good game, all the dogs out there. F*** you, tired old ball jokes. But not all ball jokes. Time and a place, people.

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 iHeart Radio 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 Emily Rudder, Brittany Martinez, Grace Lynch, and Lindsay Cradwell. Production assistance from Lucy Jones. And I'm your host, Sarah Spain.

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