Aaron Rodgers keeps talking about a “pregnant wife,” the Deshaun Watson redemption tour was terrible, and the Indiana Fever need to deal with the noise around Caitlin Clark

Testing testing testing testing testing testing testing testing. Hello anybody out there We will find out who Not how it goes not how it goes Hi Charlotte Madeline good day we're back with another episode of the sports gossip show Presented once again by us. Yay. Yay. Yay. Yay. Woohoo. Woohoo. How are you doing phenomenal? back in back to get back together again back in the stewed back in the stewed aka The Dine no no longer in dining room mysterious locations undisclosed locations right no longer You've been all over the all over the world. You know what someone said what Someone and I'm going to I'm going to address the rumor what and I haven't told you this. Oh wait someone I mean you might have seen it then no no no I'm we did a little AMA on our instrument If you don't follow us on the term you showed at sports gossip and tiktok at sports gossip show but Someone replied to our AMA with not a question, but uh Was Madeline on the traitors Or filming a game. I was not I thought you were gonna say someone said we're on the amazing race No, but they were basically like is Madeline filming a reality show I mean that would be the best like no the best possible scenario. No, no, I wasn't I wasn't I'm just clearing up those rumors nip in that rumor in the bud Yes thrilled to be back in person with you in beautiful New York City. Oh, and it's finally cool. Got a little false What a weather's coming you can really dress so what a weather can really dry. Oh, I got to tell you something Why this is an on air reveal what got a new tiny little scarf? Oh You you purchased one from the replacement from when it fell off the boat. Yes, I don't even think we've talked on the show about Being in Norway, which we will get into later about why we were there. Obviously We did go on a boat ride though that you should go check out on our Instagram because um, it was Danger it was it was not we shouldn't have been on the boat. No, it was funny And then I was and then I was like as a person who knows boats I was like oh, we just shouldn't be on this boat. No, shouldn't it's unsafe conditions. It wasn't wasn't safe for a boat But I lost my tiny little gray scarf um to the Norse gods and which is fine. It's a sacrifice Yeah, like they wanted it. They needed it if she wanted it she can have it But Did get a new tiny little scarf and the first one was a nice scarf. It was extreme cashmere. Yeah, which is a great brand Found a dup Aritzia and is it a good dup real cashmere? Oh Okay, it's not quite it's not as it's not quite as hardcore as other one But it's nice and it was like 60 bucks. Okay, so Aritzia if you're listening. Well, I have a friend who works there so I'll tell her Yeah, it's a more delicate. I don't mean it's not as good. It's just like a more delicate rather than like Made to be washed right scarf right okay. I'm I'm loving it. I got brown this time I love it a little redemption I need one of those because I this people were like is are you growing out the bob the bob is back Don't worry everyone so I feel like I need like a cute little heads like a you do head scarf situation And you know, I think you would look great in a red one. I know you say I know you say it's not I I'm fine with a red one. I think that it needs to be a deep red But you might have a deep breath because I want a deep red one. Oh, yeah Maybe I'll get this Aritzia little scarf little mini scarf, you know, it's a little treat I love you got to have a couple little treats. Did you hear that making a $60 loaf of bread these days? At this bakery and what man? Obviously Manhattan What with like an old starter, you know, the sourdough is like old but And so I think that you if you can either get like if a loaf of bread is $60 now then like get a scarf get a scarf I'm sorry, but I don't need $60 bread. Mm-hmm. I'll eat any prized bread white bread Wonder bread A sourdough, but not $60 sourdough. I'm not even $60 sourdough. But we have self respect. We have self respect There's such a thing as dignity in this household. There is um a little bit of housekeeping We're dealing with some weird technical issues on Instagram if you're listening with our subscriber shareholder chat So I think I don't know what's going on there. We're trying to figure it out So I know it's suddenly just stopped working. We don't we're trying to figure that out So there's that but apart too related to that we had posted a poll About where people want to have a shareholder community chat. Mm-hmm So if you're watching this on YouTube, please drop your Response in the comments whether you want it on Instagram. We can put it on sub-stack again Discord those are I think are the three main Places, so what the preference is if you can do that and if you're listening on Spotify you can put a comment there Or you can dms on Instagram or TikTok That would be great. Yeah, because we'd like it all to be in a place that everyone enjoys chatty with each other and while we have you Madeline, can you do your your end spiel now? Also, did you you didn't hear me try to do it at the end of the show? No, I just did you You know, I did my best, but it wasn't I'm sure you did amazing. Well, I didn't it wasn't amazing But I did I got through it. Okay. Well, that's sometimes you got to get through so let's do it Let's let's um well. Here's what I just want to say Please rate review like and subscribe We are two ladies with the sports podcast. There's not a lot of us out there It makes a huge difference when you do those things and it's free It's free So it'll be awesome if you did it if you've already done it you can skip this portion So if you've heard this a million times you've already done it your great shareholder And all of our other shareholders not that you're not great. You're still great But we'd love for you to do that it really makes a huge difference And if you've already done that but you haven't followed us on Instagram You can add sports gossip or TikTok at sports gossip show and just tell a friend about the show This is what we call call the action. It's a CTA CTA and and I'm told they work occasionally. You know, like if you really if you just do it, please just do it Just do it. So let's do it. Yeah, that's what I would like to say about that. All right. All right. Great. Well, we have a great show We sure do lots of stuff going on um we Just so much all the time She started the NFL. Let's start with the NFL. All right We're starting with the main character on the show Because he did some stuff of course mr. Aaron Rogers quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers Yeah, he well, what's the first thing he did? He Got into it with his coach Mike McCarthy. Yes during the game At one point and we'll have to bleep this he said During the game and is angry. I'm just watching the clip again He says what the fuck? Call it and Mike McCarthy says allegedly now Among other things that was just one of the the main things I saw and that was um in the first quarter against the browns. Yeah Which It's interesting because I can understand being angry at work You know, but but showing is a motion like that. I don't feel like it helps his case of being not He doesn't seem chill. Do you know what I'm saying? If he's trying to say I'm a chill guy That doesn't help. I think he would say You know, well, it's in the on the field of battle as it were, you know, it's like all spare love and football whatever um It's interesting because when Mike McCarthy became the head coach of the Steelers We were like, well, that's interesting because when Mike McCarthy was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rogers was a quarterback there They didn't that didn't seem to end well and I think that some people just get amnesia They get amnesia. They're like, no, that was great and you're like, okay And then you feel crazy because you're like, I don't think it was yeah, they're like no, no, no It was great. It's gonna work and then in one of the first primetime games for the Steelers. This happens I think too that men You know like groups of men in general. It's like Do we need them like do we need a big like general football teams are like a big groups of men's groups of men And then you see what happens when you see what they just yell at each other and it's like I mean, well, what are we talking about on the show all the times vibes and I don't think it's great If it's this early in the season and you're basically getting to an argument with your head coach on national television During game not during practice, but during the your main work event right every week So I don't feel like it's a great sign Is what I'll say and given the context of how Aaron Rogers Throughout the season him and he went on Pat McAfee when was without was right before the season when he went on that rant That I do feel like he seems to be it's almost like I'm realizing as I'm saying this in real time that maybe he Is grappling with his pending retirement Instead of crashing out on Instagram like Tom Brady did and someone else that we'll talk about soon that we are Suspecting we'll retire soon in a different sport, but we'll get to that. It's a little tease in the business episode coming That instead of crashing out on Instagram. He's crashing out in these really public settings via these rancies going on on his friends show Or by these sort of like spats with his his boss. Yeah, I don't know It just feels like I feel like we're it's almost like we're seeing this kind of like vulnerable side of him Even if he's not thinking about the retirement piece. I feel like it's almost like a That's why he's acted like this in some ways Not that he did not act like this before because he did. Well, no, but you're right because There is when you're an athlete facing retirement. You are also grappling with your own mortality. Mm-hmm Aaron Rogers keeps talking about his quote pregnant wife. We talked about this when Mina was on the show He also Al Michaels his elite play by play guy on the broadcast said to The audience he was like I'll eat Aaron Rogers told him. I'll either be tending to my pregnant wife Or I'll be taking care of my newborn Which I would like to say, if you are a gentleman out there, don't ever use these words together. - Tending to my pregnant wife, was she a cow? - I don't like that, I don't like that. - That's like livestock. - No, I don't like that. I don't like that word choice, Aaron. It's weird. It feels sort of ballerina farm. - Yes, your year of grad. - Red, white, white, city. - White, white, city. - It does like, there's something about that word. It does feel like it's like cattle. - Yeah. - Not a person. - No. - Who's carrying the purse apart? - A husbandry in the traditional. - Yes. - Tending to the animal. - Yes. - It feels like a line that would have been in a play. I was in a middle school where you're like in a 17th century and you're like in a little costume. - Yes. - You know what I'm saying? - Look, I read this and I'm like, this isn't something someone says in 2026. This isn't someone maybe wrote for a bad middle school play about like the Mayflower or something. You know what I mean? That's what it feels like. - This was a cut line from Hamnet. - Yeah. - Yes. - Yes. - And like. - Yeah. - So I don't know. - I just, I think you're on to something. - Yeah, there's something about it. - He's doing like an old fashioned crash out. - Yeah. - It's a way athletes used to do it to like sports illustrated. - Yes. - Instead of doing it on Instagram. - Yes. - And it's just nice to get a little variation 'cause we were an equal opportunity to crash out. - Yeah. - We don't discriminate. - No, we don't. - We don't. - Yeah. - We're gonna talk about it. - Yeah, because you know what I feel like sort of the next step for this crash out for him is? - What? - Is him speaking at some sort of like sports conference, like being interviewed by someone not Pat McAfee. At some point about whatever something being a football player, I don't know whatever. And he just starts going on a rant that's kind of related to these subjects. - Right. - That he has before that have nothing to do with the question that the moderator asks him. - Yeah. - That feels like kind of the next step. - No, I think you're right. I think that's what it's an analog crash out. - Which is very unbrand for him because he loves to be like, "Oh, I'm not on an Instagram, blah blah blah blah." - As he posts on Instagram. He likes an old school. - It would be. - An old school crash out. - Really interesting if he starts mixing it up, doing mixed media crash out where it's on Instagram in old fashioned. I just think. - That's a mixed media crash out. - Like a senior thesis project at at school. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - Yeah. - So man, well. - All right. - Well, let's do one fun thing about a former stealer before we get to the gross stuff about the broadcast from Steelers' Browns. 'Cause I do, we just got it. We gotta get a couple things off our chest here. - Yeah. - These are things that I don't understand, Madeline. As you know, I have trouble with computers. Mike Tomlin has a Minecraft house. I think that that's a video game. - It is a video game. - What is it? Mike Tomlin, who is Mike Tomlin? - He is the former head coach of the Steelers. - He is now lead analyst for NBC Football Night America. - Which football night, it is the finia. - I've said it before, I'll say it again. Best name of a television show in the history of this country. - You know what it reminds me? It feels just crisp and cozy. - Football night. - I feel like I'm being cradled by the analysts and Maria Taylor. - What Uncle Sam himself. - I just love it. Maria Taylor does a great job. - I love that broadcast. - Hey, no notes. - Keep it up, NBC. - I will not sponsor it. - I also feel really safe with Joe Buck and Troy Ackman. - With the toss it tones of Joe Buck and Troy Ackman on Monday Night Football. - Or something peaceful about it. - I hear him and I just feel like they're gonna do a good job. - And they do. - And football night America on Monday Night Football. - Yeah, well it's a nice transition. - Yeah, it feels nice. - It's a cozy little 24 hours of football. - Exactly. - Which is what we love on the sports gossip show. Yes, Mike Tomlin has spent 12 years crafting a Minecraft city. And Minecraft, it's sort of like, I've never played it, but my understanding it's a video game where it's kind of like Sims, but more video gamey. So instead of like a house, you build a city, you build a city. And here's what's amazing. I watched the book, he made a YouTube channel and I believe his son edited the video or something. Like his kids worked out to make the YouTube channel. Which I love. - Awesome. - Keep it in the family, family biz. And he's given the audience a tour of this Minecraft city that he built. And I don't know, did you watch it? - Or no. - Okay, well I'm just pulled up a highlight. You're seeing a clip. I can only describe Mike Tomlin's city as a city that you would build if you've only lived in B tier markets. And that's complimentary. Complementary. That's unbelievable. What Mike Tomlin has built here is a live work situation. - Really? - It's like a new build where below it, there's like a Trader Joe's. - You got a Kava. - Yes. - Yes, some slot bowl chains are in the retail level of a condo complex. - It is really impressive. You look at it and you go, "Yeah, this man has not lived in a pre-war brown stone "in New York City." - Yes. - And that's again, complimentary. - Right. - It is so detailed, but it is so detailed for a B market city. It's awesome. - And it's great. - There's a lot of space. - That's what I'm gathering. - A lot of space. - A lot of space. Oh, hold on, let me turn off the sound, okay? But there's it here. I'm just pausing that. So if you can kind of see, here's an overview of at the beginning of this clip. It's like a lake, I think, and then there's just apartment buildings. It sort of also looks like, I guess if you're gonna compare it to an A tier, sorry, and no shade to be tier. But, right, let's be real. - Sure. - It kind of looks like what they've done to Gwannis. - Yes. - In New York, for those who don't know, the Gwannis Canal, they've tried to revitalize it, but it's still like a sewage water canal situation, but they've built all these new bills, apartment and condo complexes, and they call it waterfront living. And you're like, well, it's on top of sewage. So, and chemicals and water. - Right, it's like, I mean, I guess toilet water is still water. - True. - Right, and I actually think that's probably cleaner. - I also may have to live there someday. - Right. - Who's to say? - Who's, yeah, same. - Who's to say without judgment? - Yeah, no, no, no. - No, no, no, no. - This is awesome. Mike Thomas Minecraft City looks like someone has spent a lot of time on Google with looking at Abu Dhabi, you know? Yes, but it is so detailed. He even has, he built an aquarium, and then there's a whole complex with aquarium like in it. It's really, it is honestly impressive. - And he said that this was because he, it was the stress of being a coach was so intense that he needed something to put. - Right. - And I think that that's, that's great. It's a beautiful thing. - Yeah, it is. I think it's great, so I love it. And I think more men should have hobbies. So that's just what I'm gonna say. - More men should have hobbies where there aren't big groups of them. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like this is great. Yeah, it's great. I love it. - Healthy. - Yeah. Well, so speaking of Al Michaels and things that aren't healthy, we got a couple messages about this because the Steelers Browns broadcast was pretty shocking because I think that sometimes in sports, obviously, there are a lot of, in men, sports are a lot of men who have done not great things and you just kind of have to like, figure out how to compartmentalize. But whether that's Bob Kraft saying, you can't say free Palestine, whether you need it, like, choose your variation, but then there is the world of sexual assault and really, really awful stuff. And to Sean Watson, who is the quarterback for the Browns, was accused by 27 different women of sexually assaulting them, many of them were massage therapists and the Browns played the Steelers. There's a night football. And it was the way that the announcer's talked about it. I'm just gonna give you a couple quotes. Al Michaels said, "If you follow football, you know the story. "We don't have to go through the whole "The Sean Watson" thing." Starts out career and Houston great. All of a sudden, these issues, we all know what they were made of trade from. Looks like a terrible trade. Can you win the fan base over? And Al Michaels says, "In the words of the great bard "and Susay are John Madden, winning is the greatest deodorant." Which is, he never says what the charges were. He never says the amount of women who are affected by this. He says, "The Sean Watson" thing. He says, "We know what the issues were." It sounds like he was doing, he either got like a bunch of, you know, team-issued parking tickets or was doing like light embezzlement. Right, you know? And it's like, no, this was pretty bad. Taylor Rooks also did a sit-down interview with him where all she said was, she asked if the skepticism, some fans have of Watson is because of, quote, who they believe you are as a person. She asked if that was fair and Watson was like, "No, it's not fair 'cause of course that's what he's gonna say." And Taylor Rooks said, "You can understand the apprehension though." And he said, "Yes, ma'am." That was the extent of that. After the game, Tony Gonzalez, who was tied in for the Chiefs is now an analyst after the game on NFL Prime said, the adversity that he's gone through on the field off the field, everybody doubting him, the home crowd right now, they're gonna be cheering for him from here on out 'cause the Browns won into Jean-Plaid Wall. But the stuff that he's gone through, you have to take your hat off to him and say wow, because he looks fantastic. They're acting like he broke his leg and came back to play. And I think that this is in light of everything that's been in the news with the horrible assault at Cornell. - Yeah, seeing that the same week that all that news is breaking and that so many women I know and the two of us, it really hit a lot of us, especially of our age, a heart. And to see this be the coverage, you're like, well, of course that behavior continues because men who are accused of these things, the only consequences they have is that they get a $230 million contract with the Browns and are lauded on television for overcoming adversity. - Yeah, well. - Well, there are no consequences for these actions. And I think it's interesting because once again, it's an example of how violence against women is just normalized. And if you are playing well, if you're a good boy, good at your job, then all your bad behavior is pushed to the side. It doesn't matter what you've done. It's like, well, they're winning. It's kind of like an extreme version of what we were talking about where it's like, if you've done something bad, completely different situation. But like I think about the Mike Raible version of like, well, you know, he, this, the stuff with the Inaurs, we've talked about a million times. Like if the team is doing well, no one will care. It sort of feels like this is the most egregious, horrific example of that. It's like, well, if he's playing well, we don't care. And we're just gonna call it this thing that happened in his past that he's overcome. That's, that's essentially what it is. - 1,000% and but I am curious though, because even as I say that, I would argue though that I wonder if there's a world like, let's say they were playing poorly, would they have even brought it up? I don't know. - This was because there's a lot of it was in the pregame. - Yeah. - So I think they knew that they had to address, quote, it. - Yeah. - But it also, I don't know what more you could expect from a broadcast that needs the NFL to air its game. I think it was just so obvious. It was such a, it was so not even pretending to be like hinting at journalism. - Right, right. - That it was so everyone. I think, you know, we got some messages from shareholders about it who were, and which was also really lovely. It feels, it is really nice for us to know that we can be a place that you can, like if you don't have someone in your life who also watches sports the way you do, if you're like, I'm so mad at this broadcast right now. You can always send us those emails. - Always send them. - And I think that just the fact that they said, winning is the greatest deodorant in light of violence against women, you're like, oh, so the NFL, so you really don't care. Like there've been so many things over the years. I also think recently it's gotten worse as the situation in our country has gotten more acceptable to speak about women in a bad way. Like the president was found liable for rape and civil court. You know, those are things that like it all comes from the top and at all, you get these messages of like what is acceptable in society. I also think that I look at this end to your point. It's like, well, what were they, I guess what were they gonna say? There are so many other versions of this where they could have said as a reminder, Dishon Watson was accused by more than 20 women of sexual assault blah, blah, blah, blah. It doesn't, you don't need to go on a 15 minute rant about it. But for Al Michaels to just say, going through the whole Dishon Watson thing, it's like, I just think about from a PR perspective, if you are the broadcast, you were trying to give viewers context for the players you're about to see play. Yes, you don't need to spend 45 minutes going into it. I understand that. But also there is such a smarter way that you could have brought this up without fumbling the bad like they did with what Al Michaels said and the puff piece interview. Yeah. And Tony Gonzalez after. Yeah. It feels like, is it, I'm like, is it that hard to say something? I mean, to your point, it's like we live in this culture where it's like it just has become so normalized in all of these examples that start from the top and yes, the system is broken and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But it's like, can you do the bare minimum? Right. Just say what it was. Right. At least. Right. At least. What are we doing? It shows, I think, to what people feel they can get away with these days. Yeah. Because 10 years ago, I think that they would have said what he did. I think it's also the power that these leads have over the networks now are so, is so much greater. Because people only watch live sports. Like it's basically all sports programming now is live sports or shoulder programming of live sports. So these, these broadcasts are terrified of losing, right? So they're being even softer, even though from a PR, what do we always say? You have to be honest to a certain extent because this would not have been a talking point for people on the internet afterwards if they had just said what he did, it just blows over much more quickly. So even like, not that we're trying to carry water for the NFL or tell them how to make these things feel better. No. But that is the corporate smart thing to do. Yeah. Instead, it's like, you're lying to us. Everybody feel it's, we're not idiots. It's weird too because I do think about the NFL from the PR standpoint. I don't think it hurts them from a PR standpoint to allow or to encourage the broadcast to say what's happening. Yes, sure you could, are you then people be like, well, then why didn't you punish him harder, why didn't the league punish him harder, blah, blah, blah, blah. But I actually think from a PR standpoint, it's smarter for them to allow the broadcasts to literally be honest and not be walking on eggshells when they're doing their cover. They probably would have. I think this was a decision by the broadcasts. For sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's all, it's just like, it's, I don't know. Yeah, we, if anybody wants to hire us to teach a course in sports and public relations, we'd love to disaster. We're ready. Universities, if you're listening, we're ready. We're so ready. No, we are. We have the course material. We do. We've got the syllabus. We have the syllabus. We have the reading list. We got everything. Yeah, yeah, got you. All right, well, we're going to get into some WMBA stuff. Obviously, if you've seen the title of this episode, you know that there's a lot going on. But real quick, we've got two little MBA things we want to tell you about, because one was a good thing. And it's not often that you get like a good thing. No, when B was asked, and I don't think he was asked by Jared Weiss, our pal from the athletic, I don't know. He posted the clip. That's where I got the clip from. So shout out Jared Weiss. Yeah, Jared, whoever asked this, whoever asked it, I don't know. But he was a Victor, a women Yama star for the San Antonio Spurs was asked if he would ever sign a deal with a sports betting company. And he said, quote, absolutely not. Honestly, I think it's very sad to see some players promote it. And that's honesty. And we love it. I just loved it. I was like, yeah, hell yeah, hell yeah. That's great. It was great. That's great. And I hope he doesn't backtrack this at any point. And it's true. Well, I feel he's not really strapped for cash. I don't know. No, he seems like a guy who stands by what he says. I think to the expression on his face, when he says it, he's smiling. He's like, it's a very straightforward thing to him. And I think too that it's becoming a much more-- I mean, it's interesting. We talked about this one. We talked about LeBron doing an ad for Polymarket. I think in some ways, it's being seen as more of an acceptable thing. And then in other ways, it's more and more people's lives are ruined by what happens when you get addicted to sports gambling. It is also becoming more acceptable to say, no, I'm not going to do it. I don't know. Both things are happening at the same time and kind of converging. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Speaking of LeBron, Madeline, he left Sixers practice yesterday on a helicopter. And we've known that this is going to be a thing he was going to do. He's going to split his time between Philly and New York, when he's playing for the Philadelphia 76ers. He also just skipped their preseason game against Nick's. Most of the Nick's started to play. But Tyre's Maxi, LeBron and Joel and B did not for the Sixers. He was leaving in a fanatics branded helicopter. Yeah. Well, I'm no lawyer, but there's something about it where he gets access to the fanatics helicopter. And I think also their private jet. Well, of course, because it's LeBron. I mean, listen, it's LeBron. Yeah, you should get some little goodies in your deals. But I don't love that it's a helicopter. What are we doing, LeBron? Please just drive. Just drive. Take a train. Or honestly, I'm not pro-private jets, especially for that sort of a distance, horrible for the environment. Yeah. However, I actually rather him take a private jet from New York to Philly than take a helicopter. I'm just saying. Yeah. And I'm not pro-private jets. Listen, when you break it down between time and tape, I'm sure it's faster in a helicopter. But if you just got picked up in a really nice car from the facility. Yeah. I mean, I guess you get traffic. I guess it's traffic. Well, you have traffic. But I don't know. I just also, as a person, I don't like flying. It doesn't make my body feel good. No. I can't imagine it feels good to be playing basketball, workout hard, go up in the air, and they come down every day. I know. Also, he's got sciatica, which is relatable. Yes. He also has arthritis. I have arthritis. Yeah. He's 40,000 years old. I know. LeBron, please just don't do the helicopter. Just for it. Basketball fans everywhere, please don't. I also, here's a hot take. Oh, here's a hot take. Oh. You ready? Say it. If you were going to play for a city, you're, oh, okay, LeBron, you're going to play for the Philadelphia 76ers. You're trying to be a hero. You got it. You know, it comes with that. You got to live in Philly. It's also nice. It's a nice city. Yeah. He clearly thinks it's not New York. If he's also living in New York, also, it's not New York, but no, no. It's Philly. To play for Philly, it's real loser behavior not to live in Philadelphia. LeBron, live in Philly. Live in Philly. Just get a nice apartment or something. He obviously already has a place in New York, so you can, like, go on the weekends. Right. But, like, just commit to the bit. Just commit. Commit to the bit. Commit to the bit. Live in Philadelphia. Written. Go see the bell. Yeah. Oh, yeah. What's it called? Liberty Bell. Go see Liberty Bell. I've never seen it. Run up the rocky steps. Yeah. Good work out. Yeah. Come on, LeBron. Take our advice. It's just no, it's just. Yeah. Just commit. Just commit. Just commit. Um. - All right, all right, let's talk about the WMBA playoff. - Oh, brother. There's a lot going on there. - Playoffs themselves have been phenomenal. - Yes. - I'm locked in, I love basketball playoffs so much. - I know. - It, I do wish they were longer. I know that they're not because there are not as many teams in the WMBA. I know that that's how that works. I also wish that the first round were best of five instead of best of three. I also know that their CBA contracts, blah, blah, blah. I get it. I would still like more basketball. - Yes. - Because now we're already in this heavy fun. - I know. I know. I was looking, I was like, wait, I want to go see the Liberty play. It's like, it's like we don't have any chances. Liberty, if you're listening, might begin an email. Liberty. And so, you know, there's a lot of stuff going on. Something wild, Natalie Nekase, the head coach of the Golden State Vogue race. She, full, I thought of you. - Yeah. - 'Cause you've been known to fame. - I know. She collapsed. She collapsed on the sidelines in the, at the end of game three against the Dallas Wings, which the Valkyries won. But I was like, coaches are sickos because Natalie Nekase fully went down. She fully went down without doing a hip violation. You fainted before. - I fainted. - And you go to the hospital when you fainted. - Yes. - I didn't feel good. - No. - She stood up. - Yeah. - And was like, I'm good. Chugged a bunch of water and drew up a play for her team. I was like, coaches are such sickos. - Sickos, sickos. And you know what? That's being locked in for your employees. - That's crazy. - That is a crazy amount of locked in for your job. - And she's really good at it. - No, she's great at it. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - So I guess it was they won. - Good that she drew up that play. - I guess so. - She did against the Aces. She did wear a heart monitor for game one, which is good. - That's good. - You got to do that. - Got to protect yourself. - But Becky Hammond, who's a head coach for the Aces, and Natalie Nekase, who was an assistant coach for the Aces, she was like, Natalie is really locked in. And she was also like, it's really stressful. She was like, you're not eating correctly. You're not sleeping much. Like I would love someone to do a study on the health of coaches. And also, are they built differently to withstand levels of stress than most other people? Maybe, maybe 'cause that's what got them where they are in their career, perhaps. Yeah, I think that's probably true. - And she had to fly? They have to fly places? Well, anyway, anyways. The most dramatic thing, though, that we have to talk about here in the sports gossip shows, what's going on with the Indiana fever? Oh boy. They were knocked out of the playoffs in round one. The Aces beat them. Jess and I talked about this a little bit last week. During, I can't remember which game it was. I think it was game two. During game two of fever Aces, Asia Wilson star of the Aces. Sophie Cunningham fouled her. Sophie Cunningham, we've talked about her. She has decided to be sort of the face of anti-trans woman in sports for the WNBA. And Asia, a fan was walking towards Asia after the foul on pointing at her. He was a man and she got very upset. And she, after the game, she was like, if I see someone walking towards me pointing at me, also the fever game bridge field house has been known for a lot of players have said that it is harder to play there. This is not a first time occurrence. Right, yeah. And so after that, this is all just a bit of context too for everything else going on with the fever. So Sid Coulson and Teresa Placeauns have a podcast called Unsupervised. They are lovely, funny, hilarious people. We met them, we were big fans of them and what they do. And Sid and Teresa were sitting courtside and were escorted out because they both got really upset at the fan who did that to Asia. Sid played for the fever. She played for the Aces for longer. And Sid basically, gosh, there's so many things right here, but put a pin in this. Remember this part, okay, pin. So Kelsey Mitchell, who had a historic season for a guard for the fever, gave an exit interview because the fever are out. They gave exit interviews to the press. It's the last time they talked to the press for a while. Kelsey Mitchell is a free agent. And she said that she really has to think about herself and what's best for her in signing the fever need her. A reporter said, you mentioned all the news from the fever throughout the season, Sophie Cunningham stuff, all the noise around Kate LaQuark. During the season, you stayed even killed with it all portrayed to become, did you have harder days and what did those harder days look like? Kelsey said, hell yeah, yeah, it was tough. I think the hardest part about being a fever girl, obviously you guys know, I've been a part of it for a long time. But the last couple of years, guys, I don't think people really understand how much we endure. She said, if I showed you all my DMs about the hate and all the stuff that comes with being a professional athlete, but specifically an Indian, a fever basketball player. Showing up every day to compete for fans that may or may not like you is hard. I think having to show up for people who don't look at you and have the eyes, the star eyes when they see me. But playing with Cece, who's Caitlin Clark, and having the eyes that she got, we get a lot of flak just for being on her team. And I think that comes with a lot too. And I just think that people gotta give us grace. I think this organization is unbelievable, ma'am, but I think that when it comes to really trying to be yourself, it hasn't always been easy. Well, there's a lot to unpack there. Sounds like it's not great playing for the fever. And it sounds like what she's saying is that she likes her fans, but also doesn't kind of, doesn't like the fan base. So what it sounds like to me, and then it's really challenging. This is the most we've gotten from a fever player while they're still on the team, I think, about the impact that Caitlin Clark and her, the fans that she has brought to the game, who may not be engaging with the W in the best faith. And look, I want to be clear, this isn't saying that Caitlin has made this happen, or has, we've talked before about how we wish she would be more forceful in saying there's a lot of hate that people who say they are fans of me are directing it. The black players on my team, a lot of players have talked about this influx of new fans who issue death threats who are really horrible to them in social media. At the same time, the league and the fever bear responsibility for this. It can't all be on Caitlin, though, of course, we do think she could be doing more. But that's a wild thing for a teammate. It's got to be real bad if she's saying for her to say that because she's also not saying I hate Caitlin Clark at all. They still follow each other on Instagram, like, no. But she is saying this comes with a lot that's really hard and it's heartbreaking that she said this as a black woman who is having just an out of control season. Yeah, that's why. Yeah, I mean, clearly things have to be so bad for the players and behind the scenes. For her to be willing to go on the record and say that publicly in an interview with reporters, that to me indicates that there is so much we are not seeing or hearing minuses. We are obviously seeing what's going on with the fans and the examples that we've pointed out already on the show. But to me, I'm like, okay, this is a, I'm like, this is, I don't even know how you solve this problem. Like this is such a big issue. I know if she, if a current player is saying this, who's a star free agent, who like, you want to keep? Imagine what the group texts are like with the players, what they're saying to each other, you know? So it's interesting you say that. What do you do about this? Well, the general manager of the fever, Amber Cox, basically said, well, that's not true. And Amber Cox is a white woman. She said the attacks on her fan base have no basis in reality and they need to stop, especially for members of the media. And then she sort of corrected herself and she, she just, she was basically like, I'm talking about media that has never been to Game Bridge field house. Every, she talking to the media in the room, she was basically like, you guys are fine, you're here, but the national media, I think it's what she means. Every organization throughout the league and every organization throughout professional sports all the way down to youth rec leagues have to deal with occasional bad behavior from spectators. Okay. Sure, sure, sure. Sure, but not every organization has their star players saying, this is really difficult publicly for very specific reasons. Yeah, no, no, no, no. And it's interesting, Dremel Hill on threads, she's a great writer, thinker, sports broadcaster. She said, no basis in reality and really in reaction to what Amber Cox said. She said, during Caitlin's rookie year, Alia Boston, another star of the fever, deleted her social media account because fever and Clark's fans blamed her for the team's poor start. Kelsey Mitchell, Jamel says, told me during also a weekend that fans mocked her dead father. Alyssa Thomas received a number of death threats from fever fans. And Jamel said, I understand not wanting to paint the entire fan base with a broad brush, but to deny that there isn't a specific culture attached to that team is an insult to everyone's intelligence. Yeah, I agree. Couple more people chimed in and then we can unpack all of this. So Sid, Sid Colson, she put on threads, all air, all this sh*t out, LMAO, it's a lot of bold faced lion going on. And Teresa also said the great thing about having a podcast is you can say whatever you want. So the episode on Thursday from them, I think, is going to be really fascinating. Sid and Caitlyn unfollowed each other. They used to have like a bunch of videos together joking around. There is also a video from, I think, 2025 of Sophie Cunningham, Caitlyn Clark and Lexie Hall who have referred to themselves as the Trace Lutches, which is, they are three white women, surprising Sid with a champagne shower after they won the commissioners cup. And then going really hard and dumping it all on her hair. And Sophie Cunningham also is out here making videos saying, well, it was a big year for the point because she famously pointed at a player and stared them down after, I think it was Duwana Bonner, forgive me if that's, but the whole thing about this point. And then the fan pointed at Asia, which is what made Asia upset. Sophie's out here saying all this dumb stuff, which we're not even going to repeat because she doesn't deserve the airtime. So she's fanning the flames. And then Ranna Turner, who is now in the aces and played for the fever last season, she said on Twitter about Amber Cox's statement that there's, the fans are behaved badly. This is an unequivocally false statement, players inside and outside the organization have repeatedly issued complaints with the fever fan base. It's not all indie fans. It's certainly a trend to say the attacks have no basis in reality, it's just in January. To me, if current players and former players for your organization are saying all of these things publicly, time and time again. And then you also see these instances of fans behaving horrifically towards players, right? So it's like, those are facts, other things that happen for the organization, for the GM to basically be like, well, everyone has to deal with bad behavior. Even youth sports is your PR response to this chronic issue. It's like if you have a autoimmune disease or something and you're like, well, if I just take some Advil, that'll solve it. It's like, well, no, you should got to kind of clean up a lot of areas. Probably your diet probably got to change your workout, maybe like do some, I don't know, breathing exercise. You got to help your mental health. It's all connected. It's all connected. It keeps the score. And I feel like the body keeping the score here is just horrible, bad vibes. And by the GM just dismissing, essentially what these players are saying is it's not helping their case and it's not going to solve the problem. And then it also feels like, do the fever even want to solve the problem? That's another point because I feel like they don't. It doesn't seem like they care to address the issue because maybe the leadership of the top doesn't view this as an issue. And if they don't view this as an issue, nothing is going to change. And so that's a fact. I think we need to potentially accept that they may not view this as an issue. Well, because if you think about it, I mean, what do Michael Jordan say were publicans by sneakers too? The fans that are causing a problem are spending money and are seemingly are still going to games. And I think that you have to make a decision at some point of what side do you want to be at? Do you want to be on the side that just takes money from anyone, even if they are harassing your players to the point where they don't want to play there and they're having a really hard time. And that affects your teams, I mean, if we're going to galaxy corporate brain this all out, that affects your team's performance, which affects your team's bottom line. Yes. And Kelsey Mitchell, they should, Amber Cox said we want to resign her or she's a priority for us. Is she? Is she? Because I don't know how you can repair that kind of relationship. If I were a player who said, hey, it's so bad that publicly I'm going to tell you what I've been going through. And then the GM was like, it's fine. Just like, right. Yes. I could use the right click problems. I would be like, well, I don't, maybe we're done here. Yeah. Maybe we're done here. And I think too that there have just been so many things about the fever. Brandon Turner also said that about when Sophie Cunningham was talking about all the anti-trans stuff, she said, to date, there's been one outtrans player in the league that caused zero problems. Set on X back in the summer, an issue that has caused problems though. Last year in my WNBA team, which was the fever, a male staffer was fired for sexual harassment, but we were encouraged to keep quiet about it. That is an issue. Brandon, can you say what the fever said and what I love to do? They said, quote, protecting our players and employees and maintaining a respectful professional workplace is our top priority. They then continued on to say, our policy is to take concern seriously, investigate thoroughly and act promptly when appropriate to protect the people in our organization and ensure everyone is treated with professionalism and respect, fostering trust and safety in that process means we do not comment on personnel matters involving former employees. Here's the thing. We're not in that building. Now, we don't know what's going on. We've read great reporting. We have what these women are saying, that is a really garbage response to a very serious terrible statement. Well, I'm like, who was running their PR over there? Is it like a kid with some crayons? I mean, truly, there's like, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, truly, statement. Like, truly, I'm like, is a toddler doing this because they'd probably do a better job. They'd probably be more to the point because kids are often more to the point and very direct. They say the darnest things. No, this is a terrible statement. Once again, but that's what I'm saying. It's like, right, if these are the statements they're putting out in response to PR crises and problems within their organization, maybe they just don't care. Truly, I think that that is a hard reality to accept, but it clearly seems like it might be the reality. What's else one of those things where say, if anyone at the fever is listening to this and you're like, no, I really do care, well, then how are the actions of your organization proving that? Like it's one thing. Yes. Yes. It doesn't, it almost doesn't matter what you think you care about as someone in this building. If this is what is being broadcast out to all of it, this is what we're from the public facing stuff. Yeah. This is what we are picking up on. Action speak louder than words. It's just the age old saying, it's just, and there have been enough things. Here, or inaction, or words salad speaks louder than words to, you know, I mean, it's like, yes. Something else that I just want to ask you about is Caitlin Clark on Saturday, went on college game day. Yes. What was she doing there? She was there to be the picker, the celebrity picker and promoting her new shoe. Yeah. I like the shoe. I do. I think the shoe is actually very cool. Yeah. And the, yeah. So, okay, the thing about this is that she was sitting next to Pat McAfee, who is ESPN's, you know, prized Aaron Rodgers livestock at the moment. Aaron Rodgers tends to pack McAfee. Aaron Rodgers practices husbandry choice, Pat McAfee. Pat McAfee in 2024 called Caitlin a white bitch, nice, which I could give you the context for. But there isn't. It doesn't. He said that. And after he said it, he snapped his fingers and pointed in a way that is unfortunately one of the funnier. Like, it was so bad that you're like, oh, my God, okay. He said he apologized to Caitlin, spoke to her separately. I think that they have done stuff together since then. Sure. Okay. Fine. I do think it's an interesting move for Caitlin. It was like when she walked out with Morgan Wallon, who has done some questionable stuff, including using the N word, Caitlin walked out with him at a concert, we did a whole episode about it. This feels almost a similar look. I get it. You want to go on college game to promote your shoe. I also don't think that women should be deprived of the platforms that men get to have because women have better morals than men, but that's a very complicated, it's just interesting to be next to Pat McAfee right now, given what is going on with her team. It's a weird, I can't, I'm not saying she shouldn't have done it because this is above my pay grade in a lot of ways, but I was like, ah, well, because I wonder it's like when was that booked? Yeah. Presumably it was probably booked before all of these players, the role I would guess. But yeah, I do, I am curious about it. I'm like, was that really the best idea? I don't know. I don't know. And maybe it would have been if I think Caitlin had said something a little more forceful at any point. And yes, for fans of Caitlin who say she has said things, she has said, you know, everyone should be treated the same. She said things. I think we've just said before, like, if you were I, we're in a situation where a bunch of black women were getting death threats and having a really hard time because of people who said they were fans of ours. I think we would say, Hey, you are not a fan of mine. If you are perpetuating these, this behavior in these actions, it's not, it's not the hardest thing in the world to say, no, no, it feels like it's getting to a point where, yes, it's much bigger problem than just Caitlin herself. I do think she could do something to at the very least for her own PR at the very least. But again, there are people who don't see it that way who are fans of hers. And they buy sneakers too. Right. And money talks. So yeah. But you know, oh boy, oh boy. Hopefully we'll have more more fun WNBA stuff. But yeah, also to anyone who says to us ever like, you know, why aren't you talking about the games? Well, it's the sports gossip show. Yeah. We talk about stories off the field and stories that have tension at the center. If there's something that happens during a game, that is, oh, this is juicy and dramatic when you talk about, you know, we talk about it. We talk about it. But we are the sports gossip show. And like the things that are the most dramatic and have ripple effects. That's what we talk about. That's what we're talking about. And that's our crayon statement. Well, I think that's our show. I think that's our show. As I said at the top, as always, please rate review, like and subscribe. It really makes a huge difference. You can follow us on Instagram at sports gossip and TikTok at sports gossip show. You can subscribe to our subsack at sports gossip show dot subsack.com. And as a reminder, please drop a comment where you want a chat to live Instagram, sub stack, or discord. Just you can put that word. Just let us know. Just let us know. Just let let Madeline know. Yeah. I mean, it's really let me know. Let Madeline know and she sure looks like it's let us know, but it's let me know. I'm like, let us know, but Madeline needs to know. Yeah, just just reach out to us. Yeah, great. Perfect. Okay, bye.