Phoenix Mercury soft-launching Diana Taurasi's retirement? I Ranking PWHL names and logos I Ep. 24

Intro Alicia has her hair slick back but as we know Alicia does have curly hair this is the first all curl podcast that has ever we need to talk now so it is a cause for [Music] celebration welcome to we need to talk now presented by AT&T I'm Alicia Jay and of course I'm here with Ashley Nico Moss how are you doing Ash hello hello everybody I'm good how are you doing you know what I'm good I I actually feel very blessed right now because we just had an amazing conversation with Ali love which we're going to get into a little bit later in the episode so make sure that you stay tuned for that it was such a powerful conversation but Ashley on top of that we have so many things to cover so many today because women's sports never stops period never stops we're never thank God because I'm here for it but Alex Morgan you know she had her retirement game so definitely going to touch on that um so many cute moments from that um I'm still kind of in shock that it happened so quickly but we we're gonna get in to all the yeah Alex Morgan retirement stuff the pwl now they unveiled some team names and logos that we'll see we'll see how we feel about them but we're gonna take a look at those and discuss and then ESPN recently did this survey I don't know if you've heard about this yet but with nwsl um GMS discussing whether or not players have like too much power um some very interesting find yeah even even the question of that right is kind of crazy but we're gonna discuss what come came down with that because there was some pretty crazy things that came down from that survey that we're going to get into a little bit later on and then of course we're going to catch up on wmba all things you know there's a race for that final spot in the playoffs so definitely we're going to be hashing out some things about the WNBA a little bit later on but before that you know you you got to tap in you got to tap in here's all the ways that you can tap in with us subscribe like share just basically be connected because listen we come out with episodes every single week you know we have interviews um just like I talked about with Ali love we also have some some kind of like emergency pods when we really need to talk about something we jump on and so in order to be connected with that you have to connect with all of this right Ashley yeah definitely and listen if you don't want to tap in with us on social media which I don't know why you wouldn't but that's okay some people don't want to go ahead and absorb their podcast content on YouTube they don't want to do it on social that's fine because we got you covered on audio you scan this QR code right here and it will pop us up wherever you get your podcast we're on Spotify we're on Apple so we are everywhere and anywhere so there is no excuse to not be tapping in with we need to talk now and uh speaking of we need to talk we got to talk Alex Morgan and her retirement game all right so we had this conversation last week in a special Alex Morgan's retirement game reaction video where we were all just still kind of taken aback by the announcement of the great Alex Morgan announcing not only is she walking away from the pitch but she's also expecting baby number two and we went ahead and watched her very last professional soccer game over this past weekend and first of all I absolutely loved her soccer bag that she walked into the arena with was super cute the whole look the green look shout out to Charlie she was the star of the show as well um there's so many things yes so cute and the picture that I think really um was really sweet too was the one I think was the end where she was kissing her stomach it was just adorable just all the feels all the feels um Alex spoke to the crowd after the game and she said quote I did everything I ever wanted to do and more with this decision I feel at I feel so at peace because I am ready to start my family and I'm ready to hang up the boots and allow the Next Generation to flourish and just Relish in the spotlight she said after afterward it's a good feeling now um the broadcast was not rushed um at the end it ESPN 2 and CBS both showed her signing autographs post game she took her cleats off before exiting the pitch exited in the 13th minute um the first time that a game has been broadcast simultaneously across Network so CBS espm prime Etc and as we said Charlie her daughter was there she was the mascot for her walk out she wore a jersey with Mom 13 on the back so super cute Alex had more than 95 family members in attendance and as we know from our emergency po about this the lower bowl was completely sold out they had to open the second bowl so it was a huge huge game um listen she got her champagne shower after the game to your point though we're just it feels like a whirlwind it just we just kind of absorb the fact that she's retiring and then her last game was over this weekend it was just it was so much to absorb in in a short span of time but I think they did a beautiful job a tribute we're always talking about how sometimes these tributes come a little bit too late sometimes they're Rush sometimes they're not shown on prime time and I think that if we can go ahead and take anything from this and hopefully apply this to other legends from other sports um Alex got her flower and she got them tremendously and that's something that I think we can all celebrate yeah I definitely that I was just going to say you know we've talked so much about doing things right getting ahead of things and in this case it was a very short amount of time between the time she announced in the time that they had that game yeah so they really did it right and it just goes to show you that it can be done number one but also it should be done um they you know she should have all of those flowers she should have all those people there in the um she should have her moment with Charlie who has been there you know along the whole entire way too it was so incredibly cute but actually I was thinking about this and you know it was such a short amount of time between her announcement and when she had it but then there also other people who retire and they say it like at the beginning of the year like this is my last year goodbye tour if you will yeah the goodbye tour which one would you rather have because I think there are pluses and minuses in both I want the goodbye tour right I remember I I remember Kobe's goodbye tour and like after every game somebody won his jersey somebody wanted his sign shoes and I you know what I would say this I think that the goodbye tour can be distracting um I can understand that aspect of it but I also think that it gives the opportunity same thing with Brady when we kind of knew you know that when he retired and then unretired I think everyone knew that like when he unretired that was going to be his official retirement when it was all said and done um but I think it gives your peers and people you've inspired and and fans you've inspired a chance to really just have a moment to say goodbye to you I think that the cool thing with Kobe doing the goodbye tour was that so many of the players currently in the league that he inspired had a chance to like say their goodbye to him like in person and get something signed and you know when you kind of announce it at the last game of the season it doesn't give people that same unless they run into you some point after you've announced your retirement and your post-retirement life I think it's something special where you get to you know one last time in your sport interact with the broadcasters and the fans and your peers and your teammates and I just think that that's the reason why I would do it is just because it would give me one last time to really absorb everything in totality whereas you know the just kind of the all right I'm out makes it a little bit I don't know a little bit rush I feel like would just be me though yeah I don't know I see I see a good side to both because on the other hand you have kind of I don't want to say like a regular season but your last season to kind of feel all the feelings that you have internally in real time and not be concerned with all this kind of like outside I don't want to call it noise but just outside things that you would be dealing with and just to say you know the last one's the next one is my last one I think there's some power in that too so side to both sides to both I've seen both be done in in a beautiful beautiful way but something that I'm not sure was done in a beautiful way was the new logos and names um on the pwl announced this week The PWHL's recent drop is ... interesting interesting Alicia listen you're right because after much anticipation all right the professional women's hockey league which is what the pwl is um they shared its new team names and logos for its inaugural six teams now with any logo and name launch people either love them hate them or don't care much about them at all so we're going to go ahead and give our thoughts um just give one or two words of basically how we feel about the team names and the logos then at the end we're going to pick the best and the worst out of them in totality all right so Emma if we can throw that graphic up one more time all right here so Boston went through a few names this is some of the names they threw out there was the Blitz the emeralds Wicked which love that play by the way if you've never seen it you're missing out luckily the movie is coming out but they settled on the Boston Fleet [Music] um yeah I guess it's a tie to like Boston you know like this you know like the American Revolution and like the ships the Boston Harbor maybe that's kind of what I would connect it to maybe Fleet of ships I don't know I don't I don't really know and it's it's not just the names too like when you're looking at these logos they just bring me back to kind of like an old school era as well so I'm like I'm wondering what's going on across the board if that was like intentional I don't know but do you like I look at do I like the fleet it's interesting okay I'm trying to be nice it's interesting when I look at the other ones like Blitz to me sounds a little bit more appropriate um Emerald I could I could take or leave it's like green Boston green I could I could see that you know what I mean I can see because of you know weather it it sounds very hoeish to me I don't know I even I could even see Wicked to be honest because in Boston they say Wicked forever that's wicked like you know what I mean like absolutely it's almost like when you're looking at the full list of the names you're just wondering like who selected this last one because there there's some really good ones that are in consideration and then they just pick probably like the best let's run through some of these other ones all right let's go to Minnesota um Minnesota the options were the superior uh the monarchs the Marmont I think I'm saying that right they settled on the front Frost um so the Minnesota Frost I think that's you know it's cold in Minnesota I get it I just in my mind and you know how my mind works actually I don't think anyone can figure it out yet but I just snowman just like with hockey sticks and Bucks like playing when I think of the frost but that's just me yeah I mean at least listen there's a correlation to the weather I guess um let's see Montreal we had the Lumes which is a French for light um I only know that because of Beauty and the Beast so shout out to the cartoon for keeping me educated um the Metro the Echo and they settled on the victory which is spelled differently than how we spell it here in the states I'm assuming that's the French way of spelling it Montreal obviously being um I believe French is their most spoken language over there so I guess it's a you know correlation between the two um how we feel about that one that's fine like it shouldn't I don't know if it has to be Universal but I will say it's definitely going to be said differently in every way across the board like people aren't you know it's going to be one of those ones that's really hard for people to say consistently and right right I also don't want to negate the fact that it's French Montreal I like yeah you like it I love it but yeah it is going to be one of those ones where people are going to say it wrong constantly listen um this is true we're going to go ahead and and then check out this one here this is the Ottawa um one of the names possibly could have been the advance the alert the guard they settled on the charge I can give a charge I I like the um the the bottom logo better than the first the top one I can get with charge I can get with it okay sticking in we're g to stay in Canada we're going to go Toronto we could have been the torch the Sentinels the temps the tempus um they settled on the skep trees I think I'm saying that right skep trees yeah I don't know what a skep tree is no idea definitely I think is that a snake it's like a staff or a wand that's held by like a monarch okay oh so the thing like you like Crown yeah like when they're putting the crown on there's usually like during a coronation there's someone something like a scepter yeah oh a scepter okay maybe that's why that logo looks like that if you want to pop maybe that's what that is is the the thing they're holding because otherwise it's a lot it's a lot and um we're going to go to my home state New York uh it the last one here on our list it was either the sound The Rush The Odyssey they settled on the sirens which I'm not mad about because that's all New York has so the New York Sirens makes sense to me that's a good one yeah that that one makes sense yeah I'm not mad at that one that that's very uh New York so yeah yeah um I'm I'm interested on like what the voting system was in these names if there was any I just you know but and every time I see something like this I just always wonder who's in the room making the decisions who is in the room child room okay so before we go ahead and shift gears we are going to go ahead and pick our best and our worst from these names all right best let's start with best best for me I'm going to go the New York Sirens I'm bias I'm going to go my home state it is what it is what do you have Emma can you throw it up one more time because it's good I'm a visual person um I would have to go with the charge okay even even though I really wish they would revise the top logo a little bit uh I I do I'm here for that so it's by a narrow narrow narrow margin that I would pick charge out of all of these because they're just not my favorite if I'm being being honest but maybe they'll grow on all of us all right so let's go ahead and shift to our worse I'll let you start with this one first what do you have for worse I I would say this is a hard I'm gonna go Frost I'm gonna go Frost just because of what I get in my head is not anywhere close to being a hockey team you know like it's just not so Frost I would say is down there I'm going to go with the Toronto uh sep trees I think I'm saying that right one because I can't really pronounce it so's that um also I don't get the correlation to Toronto in any way shape or form um I don't understand you know I'm not saying it has to make complete sense but I would like to find some sort of correlation and I can't I can at least find a correlation with like four out of the six of these um so for that reason Toronto you're going to get my vote on my least favorite and that's that yeah it's the logo too the the seor logo yeah I thought it was I don't I don't know I don't know the fact that we can't even say what it is that proves your point could have been a lot of things you know but we're here so speaking best of luck for an amazing season yes go ahead best of luck for sure for sure for sure um we had somebody very special join us on the show I mean I still think Ally Love on the pod!!! I'm digesting so much of what we talked about I know at the end of that conversation you said how much you needed the conversation I mean Tee It Up let let the people know you know when you come into a conversation you never really know you have an outline of what you want to talk about but I know in this conversation it was exactly what I feel like our world needs in a lot of ways right now we talked about authenticity we talked about taking care of yourself we talked about you know being an advocate for yourself in every way I mean there's so many touch points in this interview that I know that you are going to relate to so let's just check it out right now um our amazing conversation with Ali love it's not about me go ahead go ahead today we we are joined by a very special guest literally I don't know what she doesn't do but she is the CEO and founder of the love Squad which we all love um she's a today show contributor and literally just an all-around badass please welcome Ali love thank you so much for being here thank you both for having me hello hello um before we get started we do have to notice we do have to you know recognize something I should say you can't really tell if you're watching us right now on YouTube or wherever you're absorbing this content Alicia has her hair slick back but as we know Alicia does have curly hair this is the first all curl podcast that has we need to talk now so it is a cause for celebration because I know and this leads me to my very very first question I remember when I first started in the industry and I was working local news covering Sports my hair was so fried because not only was I a blonde but I was constantly blowing my hair out because I was told by someone who should rename who should remain nameless that uh straight hair looked better on camera that it was more appeasing to mass audiences and being at the time I was what 20 21 years old I was still in college like an internship SL job I was like oh okay so let me just do that I really want to make it my hair was fried so when I look at those old demo reels I'm like oh my God so that leaves me to my first question with you Ally I mean obviously curly girl you know the struggle of not only dealing with your natural hair texture and finding the products that work for you don't work for you and it's a lot of trial and error as we know but how have you dealt with just being in an industry that has not always been very welcoming of girls with hair like ours and other natural you know hairstyles in you know just this realm of media all around yes um first thank you so much for having me happy to be here with both of you you're amazing um secondly it's like disheartening it's exciting but also disheartening that to your point it's like oh wow this is the first time we've had three girls here with natural curly hair um I feel like it's one of those things where it should just become a norm that folks no matter what your texture hair is that you wear it as natural as possible or at at least you feel comfortable and confident in the times that you choose to wear it natural that you can go into any room or any zoom and just or any carpet and just feel like you belong and I think that that's really important and something for me um I started hosting for the Brooklyn NS and I had an incredible leader Patra Pope she came from the Knicks she was at the Nets and she hired me and I remember our first conversation and it wasn't like don't wear your curly hair the first thing she said was like we want to Rebrand you a little bit because I was dancing for the Knicks this was my first like posting she said we want to Rebrand you and so she asked me she's like why don't you wear your hair straight for a while and then you know what I mean ease back into your natural curls just so it gives a little little bit of a look for Brooklyn I think that was one of the most appropriate conversations because she wasn't never asking me to never wear your hair curly or uh you know your curls aren't good enough here it was more of like hey everybody your hair is such a branding tool for you when people see your hair they think of you like your hair is like your marketing tool and so for her it was like let let's go ahead and shift that um Ali Nick City dancer to Ali Brooklyn et's host and I thought that conversation was very helpful in that sense of understanding how yes your hair is the part of you it is something that is noticed um it is something that is um that you can leverage in any capacity but also that you can use and so I wore my hair straight for maybe a couple months and then I went curly and everybody nobody was none the wiser but there have been times and I talked about this when I first got my job at Today Show there had been times even when I came on the Today's Show for the first time to announce that I was joining the team I was so nervous around just like how to do my hair like do I wear it curly do I straighten it do I pull it all the way back with a central part like how do I let an audience who's very new um how do I let them know who I am without them getting caught up in maybe their preconceived notions of what a girl like me with curly hair like what they might feel about that and so it something that I talked about in the very beginning that I still have that thought in the back of my mind when I go to Red Carpet or when I host it you know the SBS do I wear my natural hair do I wear curls do I straighten it do I put it away and it's still an internal conversation so I will say in terms of how do I deal with it now the conversation internally never goes away I still feel that way um but what I recognize on the days that I get a little bit less confident or I feel like o will this be the reason why someone doesn't accept me those are the days that I wear my hair natural and big and love frizz I say the higher the hair the bigger the hair the closer to God right I know that's right little bit more bold not for the public because they probably are all welcoming but for that insecurity that we've been taught over the years of your hair needs to be straight in order to be on TV and so those are the days that I say you know what it's time to go big it's time it's time to brush it out blow it just wear it being multifaceted I feel like is something that wasn't always celebrated in this industry regardless of where you found yourself I feel like a lot of the times women have always been told to do one thing and do one thing really really well don't try to put too much on your plate whereas men you know have always kind of been celebrated you can be a former athlete then go into broadcasting then have a clothing line then then do films then have a podcast then have a radio show and it's like he's a boss but if a woman does it it's a lot of the times and I still think even though we've come so far there's still sometimes push back oh her priorities are out of whack why does she have to work so much is she never satisfied it's just it's a billion in one things but I do see the progression versus 10 years ago even five years ago where now it's so many women are wearing so many different hats you know whether what those hats are is totally their prerogative but I mean for you seeing that progression and it kind of just being the whole premise or part of the premise of Your Love Squad I mean how how important is it for you to be part of continuing that trajectory of reminding women that they can be a billion and one things if they choose to be absolutely I I get that question too again when we kind of touched on it earlier like how do you do all these things why don't do all of them all at once um and I always say that I'm a part of the slash generation meaning but back in the day you had one title you buil you you know you started here and you work your way up that corporate ladder and so we're no longer in hold on have to call sorry I had some raspberries before this yeah and I was like wait a minute thank you but yeah I think to answer your question I think for a long time many folks would say you need to be the master of one thing and what I recognize is that with for me it just didn't work I always call myself like the part of this SL generation I felt like I was able to do multiple things and find where they intersect and so I always say my career of all the things that I do they intersect in the three C's it's camera it's community and it's conversation and when it you're able to articulate where I think that blows people's minds because you know it's like how do you do it all how do you it's like I don't do it all at once there are seasons to all of this but it's like they intersect at something and I know what I'm doing and I know why I'm doing it and I know why I enjoy doing it I often look at Shaq now Shaq has the most Partnership of anyone I know anyone I know right it's like he's doing Insurance he's doing like I see how he's just going like he's doing the most insurance I mean EXA and it's like for him when people see it you just kind of laugh it off and to your point sometimes for me and I I've heard this in public forums um you know when folks are are writing comments it's like oh well she has too much going on she's trying to do everything and it's like I I'm I'm comfortable with myself I'm comfortable with the trajectory of my career to understand why I'm doing these things and why I love these things and also why I'm good at these things I think that also yeah Al yes um and I think for me it's like being able to articulate I I always say when we talk about empowering people or empowering women power is being able to articulate what you think and how you feel in in the time that you have right and most times we don't Empower each other by working through and contextualizing well what is it that you want to be or what is it that you're doing or why you're doing it and when you get in a space where you're able to work through that and land on those 3 C's or land on how all these things work together people didn't respect you for it and so what I recognize is well I should be able to your point why not do whatever I want to do because it's my life I do think being able to show the younger generation where it's like you don't have to do one thing you don't have to do something linear and climb up the corporate ladder there's nothing wrong with that you can have multip multiple titles but just note everything every decision has a consequence so you got to give something and you also have to give up something and so being the host of the Brooklyn NS for 11 Seasons yeah I gave up holidays with my family I G gave up a lot of nights where I couldn't do anything 41 games is a lot I had no backup for M for of the 11 years I probably for the eight first eight years I had no replacement so that that meant I couldn't get sick I couldn't call out there was just I showed up I showed up if there was a Christmas game a new year whatever it was I showed up so while I'm able to do all the things that I love it still comes at a consequence or a result and I have to make sure that I'm comfortable with that heart right they always say to your point of like being able to do it all or deciding to do it all you can articulate it but more importantly if you don't do it all you'll miss out on it and that's hard if you do it all the work is hard so you choose your heart and for me my heart is being put on the spot say how can you do all these things or why do you choose all these things or are you doing too much that's my heart I'm able to answer that question my heart is missing many holidays with my family because I wanted to build my career and home my craft and they understood so I think that that is important to to note it's like yeah I do a lot of things and I'm not going to do all of them for a long time I'm going to do them for a good time m well speaking of doing all the things you are recently being named the lead designer for Contigo you have a collaboration with them that is amazing and it's one of the things that you have chose to do umot by the way yeah the bottles are amazing and why did you choose this collaboration and to be the lead designer like why did you choose this opportunity amongst all the opportunities that you have and and how does it fit in with those three C's yeah so I think that one of the things I recognize about myself as I grow and I talked to Andrew my husband about it is I love collaborations like I think that collaborations are the most powerful movements that we can create like we when we three get together and have a conversation not that on an individual basis it won't be impactful but it's just like three times more impactful um three times the perspective and so for me I'm leaning into my collaboration era I've always been collaborative and about Community which is what it is I love having conversations and so when Congo came to present this um partnership one I talk about hydration non-stop I talk about I on the bike I talk about Hydration Station love your I don't know what Happ you're excited about you're excited the hydration yeah it's like I talk about hydration I talk about how hydration station on the bike I also know like one of the I would say small shifts create huge impacts right we forget oftentimes like breath work meditation just silence hydrating leads to a foggy mind it could be one of those things that I am I get hangry really quickly I don't know I don't have a sense of um of Self in that I don't know when I'm starting to feel hungry I just fall off a ledge and then I'm hry and everything needs to stop and we need to get food right now I don't know how to gauge that feeling and I recognize that too with being dehydrated being dehydrated makes you can make you emotional and I didn't realize that for a long time so I don't know how to gauge when oh I'm thirsty I don't have that sensory experience like other people have so for me I talk about being hydrated because I don't want to pop off on somebody I don't want to like get into those emotions and not understand or have a sense of awareness it's like I rather be hydrated so I talk about ways to shake your hydration and get that protein afterwards so when they brought the partnership one it's affordable two it's durable three we were talking about not compromising style and functionality it keeps your beverage hot and cold and you can be cool with it and so I leaned into my cowgirl era and that we did a cowgirl print in um a few colors and then I did the iconic hounds tooth when I moved to New York I didn't have a lot of resources my parents work really hard to get me where I am they're amazing um but coming into New York I didn't have a lot of resources to be in rooms or to dress up or go to Fashion Week and all those things and when I got here I noticed that you know Upper East Side they wore the hounds tooth and I was like okay just wait so what I did was incorporate the current of the cowgirl into that classic Hound suo to say you know what it's affordable make it a part of your everyday you don't have to compromise that style you can all have to compromise the functionality of being hydrated of taking a water bottle to match your outfit because we are in that era right now and so for me it was a no-brainer they've been amazing to work with um and like I said it's affordable which is really important those collaborations I think that oftentimes we think well I want to collaborate with the coolest brands in the world or like the biggest brands and and sometimes sometimes it's like important to go back to your roots of like yeah people want to be a part of the collaboration and make sure that that it's accessible to them and so that's what we've done it's like we've taken hydration we've taken style we've taken functionality and we made it we've made it approachable we've made it fun and I've enjoyed every part of this process and every partnership that I do sincerely products that I use things that I talk about so that it is organic instead of someone saying well Ali doesn't eat like like for example I don't drink coffee and then all a sudden I'm doing like a coffee partnership I would never want that to lose trust of the people because it's important so it does fit into your question in the three C's of it's Community it's one of the it's it's a thing of like it's Community it's opening up conversation also on the low it's really like giving my mom a water bottle because I created and my name is on it to make sure she stays hydrated so I did notice when I do certain collaborations that it benefits my family and they take more pride in it when my fingerprint is on it and so so selfishly on my side I'm like oh this will be great because my mom will be like drinking from these water bottles all the time and therefore puts her in a better frame of her health I love that I gotta get I'm gonna get one for my mom because she needs to drink more water she's always drinking diet Snapple I'm like that's not the same thing wait is that a thing diet yeah I'm like if you're gonna have the Snapple just have the actual Snapple why are we drinking the diet one it's a long story I mean Ashley literally I I know that I'm breathing deep deeper after that conversation we talked about breath work but also just being your authentic self I mean we could go down the line but we only showed you a little snippet of it so so much to that conversation so de there so much more so much parallel I feel like too in so many of the things that we talked about between the three of us in some way shape or form you actually revealed something that kind of made me and Ally both gasp when it came to your curly hair and you know your experience with being a curly girl in the industry just so many gems were dropped so much vulnerability so much transparency I just feel like we kind of and we just peeled back just a couple of layers but you definitely don't want to miss this conversation it was a very very impactful one for sure Emma felt like she got a therapy session yes I think we all expensive so you're welcome Emma definitely but you know you just got a little snippet of it make sure that you tap in for the full interview with Ali love it's on our YouTube channel trust me you don't want to miss a moment of that um we connected on every single level um and you'll definitely connect with a lot of things that she has to say and speaking of connection Ashley you know what time it is it's time for our favorite segment Connecting Changes Everything connecting changes everything presented by AT&T [Music] now Ashley this week we are going to talk about something that is just wild to me um and you know we really want you guys when you hear what we're going to talk about to comment below because we need to connect on this for sure and that is that there was a survey done by ESPN that found some nwso general managers feel as though player reforms have gone gone too far okay um the survey was Anonymous and done with each of the leagues 14 teams um and all said that the culture of the league has undergone a drastic shift obviously I mean we've all seen it a drastic shift but inac accountability is what they're saying since 2022 um was this with the systematic abuse that was uncovered by the NWS nwsl obviously we we all saw that but now they're saying that it's gone too far that it's swung over to almost like taking care of the players more than it should be what are your thoughts on this because that in that statement in itself is is just I can't even fathom how anybody could say that you could take care of the players too much especially after what happened I mean I'm going to keep it short and sweet because I think this is a ridiculous statement I think this is a ridiculous thing to even and have an opinion on um I think that for the longest time and you name a sport this has existed in some way shape or form within that within that sport players athletes have always been treated like products and commodities and not people um not people with pulses and emotions and feelings and things that they go through outside of what they do and you know much like us you know your personal life does not matter when it comes to the product you know I obviously am not competing for a championship neither are you although in my head I am um you know my head I'm starting game six for the New York Knicks you know what I mean but um you know nobody cares if we're having a bad day you're supposed to show up and do what you have to do and that's whether or not we feel good about ourselves we spoke about that with Ally like I could be having a day where I just don't feel cute I feel bloated I don't feel well I'm having a horrible day I just cried my eyes out for four hours the night before I have to go on TV and talk about what I need to talk about nobody really cares about how I feel and that's no different than athletes it doesn't matter what happened to you the night before in your personal life you have a job to do and that is to go out perform win this game win this series whatever the case may be so it's been a very unhealthy way that we have approach sports for a very long time in terms of how athletes have been View vied and because of the work of so many people throughout the history of so many different sports we have finally gotten to a point where we are treating athletes like what they are first and foremost and that is that are that is people that are human beings with pulses and things that they deal deal with and not just these Larger than Life superheroes who nothing can bother them and nothing ever hurts them and things that are said don't affect them and it's disgusting and it's disappointing but also not surprising that the people who profit most off of athletes kind of Performing to their highest level regardless of how they feel would have a issue with the fact that we're trying to find a balance between performance and just quality of life regardless of you know what that means for the greater outcome of of a sport or a franchise or whatever the case may be it's again disappointing not surprising and I think that it just goes to show there's more work that needs to be done because there are people who have power that find an issue with player reform and making these Sports safer and and healthier and just more conducive for people to perform at their highest level without feel like feeling like they're compromising their their sanity and their mental health and it's just it's like I said it's disappointing but also not surprising so yeah I'm definitely not surprised but it is very disconcerting that there were multiple GMS that had something to say of this nature like this and it was all Anonymous but of course it is I don't like I don't need to know names I just know that there are people multiple GMS that are feeling this way and that is egregious like I want know names oh no I would love to know names listen if it's not all GM Emma wants us to just make sure we clarify it's not all GMS there are some GMS and these GMS have um chosen to say Anonymous which I personally I don't know about you Alicia but if I was playing for a GM who felt this way but can hide behind um Anon anony be anonymous anonymity rather but smile in my face and be like we're gonna we care about you we're gonna take you like put your name to it you know I want to know I agree I agree no I I completely agree and I you know I wish that there were names but we do have some statements that I think we should definitely read uh one GM said there's a fear amongst staff about what you can say what you can't say what you have to ask players permission for what you don't if you're going to get in trouble for this and that means that it's it and that means excuse me to me it's gone too far and it's like why is that too far when you have to be concerned with the way you shouldn't you should be learning enough about what is going on to just be a good human being and not offend anyone rather than saying I just you know it's gone too far because now I'm nervous about what to say well learn why you're nervous about what to say learn what's the right thing to say instead of saying it's gone too far your discomfort is part of the process of realizing what needs to change and what should not go on moving forward so instead of saying ah it's just gone too far we'll say why do I still feel this way and how can we make things even more right than they already are or even more right than we've already come to be in this process so instead of just saying we're going to throw it out realize why you still feel a little bit of discomfort yeah and that rather than saying we're protecting the players too much you can't protect the players enough right there is there's there's nothing there's no stopping that that should be a continual process that should be something that you build on time and time again so to see these kinds of statements is definitely something that shows us that we have so much work to do so many things have happened so many things have happened in the NWS soell that are amazing okay but when you have GMS saying this they's still so much work to do period absolutely and I think that you know it's we've come like you said we've come a far away but we still have a far away to go period Point Blank because that's not cool yeah and it's a continual process there's never an end there's never an end to making sure that players are protected absolutely and listen we're going to go ahead and Diana Taurasi retirement soft-launch??? move on to a segment we also love and that is a segment we like to call what's up now and this is the WNBA two-minute drill Edition all right so we are going to go ahead and catch you up on all things as the league heads into its final week and a half of the regular season like I said two-minute drill we're covering three topics two minutes each start the clock first and foremost Angel re shocked fans Twitter everybody possible when she announced she is out for the season with a wrist injury that it seems like for a lot of people just kind of came out of nowhere it's why everyone was taken aback when they heard this news now obviously the sky are fighting for playoff contention um Angel Reese is in the midst of a fight for Rookie of the Year between her peer and you know friend as she says going back to high school Caitlyn Clark I mean how does this go ahead and affect not only the sky player off chances but Angel ree is the Rookie of the Year man first of all I just want to say I I just wish that did not happen she had such a Monumental year and I don't want this wrist injury to negate from that because the numbers don't Li they there she she had a Monumental year nobody can take that away from her I think with the numbers that Caitlyn is having we're we're kind of moving into more of a conversation where she may be the leader in this um but I just don't want people to to I mean I I don't want to say may I think I'm just going to say she has she the conversation is there to say that she would be rookie of the year but it does not negate what Angel has done my God absolutely not she she was phenomenal this season she it was historic and um I hate that it ended the way that it did U but I also know that angel came and got everything and more that she set out to do this season I commend her for it a phenomenal year when we're talking dang 30 seconds 30 seconds I do think that the sky um are going I I really see them getting this last playoff spot they've had phenomenal games they had a phenomenal game when she was out and um I don't know Kennedy Carter coming back was a big spark there there's been a lot of things with the sky so I definitely see them um being a huge Contender if not taking that that last spot we're going to move on to we talk about angel re we got to talk Caitlyn Clark and right now she is closing in on records most points in a rookie season needs 53 points to pass um the actual record she's nearing the record for most assists in a season needs 11 to pass Alysa Thomas for her 2023 record that's an average of about two and a half uh per game over four games remaining um she right now has tied Sabrina for the most career games of 25 plus points 10 plus assists and also has a shot at passing her for the most three-pointers in a single season she needs 18 more um Caitlin Clark I mean she is a record breaker and this is all from people saying you know I remember early in the season when people were doubting if she was WNBA ready y'all look crazy now but I think that you know this race between Angel and Caitlyn when it came to rookie of the year was so close and I think that we knew that eventually it would somebody would run away with it and I think that with everything that Caitlyn has done in terms of breaking these records I think it's at this point she's leading the pack in that um conversation and also I mean helping the fever get back to the playoffs for the first time in years also has kind of pushed her over the edge in that conversation I mean that's something to highly celebrate and it's something that the Indiana Fever fans have been really looking forward to since they just keep getting in these top draft picks they're finally like here they they're a threat they they look good Alicia no they look really good and people thought that they would be vying for a spot no it's locked in the spot is locked in already and it's amazing to see and she's just gonna continue to have these historic nights and have you know set these um historic things that she's been continuing to do throughout the season and they're they are a threat they're not just there they they are they gonna be there for a while while yeah I'm excited to see how it pans out you know who won't be here for a while that's Diana terasi because as we know she already told us that her previous her or her recent rather Olympic appearance um would be her final one she said that she doesn't see herself you know competing in the LA Olympics she's had a good run and now it's time to close that chapter but did the Phoenix Mercury soft launch her retirement from the WNBA they posted on social with a link to tickets and the caption if this is it dot dot dot you have two more opportunities to see the greatest of all time at home in 2022 terasi said when I'm done playing I'm just going to stop playing I'm not going to ease my way out so no goodbye tour for Diana terasi we're having that debate but I mean did the Phoenix Mercury kind of spoil oil the the quote unquote surprise what the hell it's the if for me though it's the if with DT you just never really know she even said you just read that quote and she was like I'm G stop when I'm G stop so pop out yeah I'm just gonna pop out The League I'll be done but I don't know I just never would DT you just never know man she is a phenomenal player obviously she's a goat she's been doing her thing she's continued to do it this season even I know she said she wasn't going to be in the Olympics anymore but who knows who knows and the if shows you that we don't know like the if yeah yes they're talking about retirement but they put that if in there for a reason so d g she gonna do what she gonna do period listen either way get those tickets if you don't want to take the chance cause we won't know apparently they do um listen speaking of popping out and just kind of Disappearing we've come to the end of the show it's gonna pop on out um as usual guys we want to remind you to follow us on all of our social channels that includes our individual social channels for myself and Alicia the show is on all social media platforms and make sure you have your notifications on YouTube as well because we're always clipping some of the best moments putting them out there also full episode episodes we have some really cool things that we're going to be doing for the month of September you don't want to miss that we can't give away any surprises just yet um but there are a lot in the works but if you don't want to go ahead and watch us that's okay we have the QR code right here that can go ahead and pop us up wherever you listen to your podcast that's on Spotify that's on Apple so there is no reason to not be tapping in with we need to talk now and we're also working on you know we've been reading the comments and we've kind of been thinking of ways to make the show even more Universal for people who may not be you know complete Sports junkies and now that we're entering you know a time in sports where things are a little bit calmer not that much calmer but a little bit you can also expect some really cool conversations that just affect us as people so we have a like I said a lot of cool stuff in the works for the show you don't want to miss it but until next week for my myself for Alicia it's been out we been real thanks again Ally we love talking to you amazing amazing amazing conversation bye all' we'll see you next week [Music]