Episode 12: Wicket!
In Episode 12 of Burn It All Down, Shireen Ahmed, Brenda Elsey, and Jessica Luther discuss the growing popularity of women’s cricket; then Shireen interviews Tracie Leost, Metis runner and activist, about the importance of community building and strength of Native American and Indigenous athletes, and how she used running to draw attention to the crisis of over 3000 missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada; followed by a discussion of the current (concerning) state of sports media; and a collection of audio from WNBA All-Star weekend, compiled by Lindsay Gibbs. Then Shireen, Brenda, and Jessica burn some stuff and praise some bad ass women before capping it off with the games they’re excited to watch this week.
Intro ~ Discussion of Women’s World Cup and rising popularity of women’s cricket (1:18) accomplishments of Harmanpreet Kaur (3:53) need for support from national federations and federations to grow the game and Pakistan Cricket Board’s misstep (7:38) Interview with Metis athlete-activist Tracie Leost (12:48) her journey with the North American Indigenous Games 2017 (15:08) using running to bring attention to Missing and Murdered Indigenous women in Canada (15:53) underfunding and challenges of Indigenous youth in sport (21:28), her work in social work and sport. Clips of audio from WNBA All-Star game from Lindsay Gibbs (27:02) Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi (27:17) on Jonquel Jones (28:18), about Allie Quigley and the Pat Quigley memorial fund (30:01) Tina Charles on impact of BLM protests in the WNBA (32:28) Cheryl Reeves on BLM movement and being leaders in communities (33:36) Sue Bird on her ESPN profile and athlete activism (35:00) Lisa Borders’ pre-game presser (37:27) On the climate of sports media and switch to more video content (38:47) VICE shutting down the sports site and how is affects freelancers (40:30) how it affects women athletes and their advocacy through media (43:00) shutting down, layoffs and downsizing at MTV news, Grantland SI, espn, Gawker (44:00) what does it mean for women and “gig-economies” (46:00) Burn Pile – Jessica burns the anti-trans bill (#SB3) in the state of Texas that seeks to overturn the current ordinances that protect trans folks and particularly trans athletes (50:45) Brenda burns ESPNFC and other football media’s fake news and shitty coverage of women’s soccer specifically Women’s Euros 2017, and sexist commentary (55:55) Shireen burns a NYT piece glorifying a female CEO of a horribly misogynist and racist media outlet (58:15) Badass Woman of the Week: Seattle Storm collaborating with Planned Parenthood (1:00:24) Honorable Mentions: Nadia Nadim – Striker on Denmark’s National team and player on Portland Thorns (1:02:42) Team Netherlands and Team Norway – opening match at Women’s Euros 2017 (1:03:52) Niam O’Donoghue (1:04:40) Claressa Shields (1:05:10)
Brenda is looking forward to watching Spain vs England at the Euro (1:05:40) Jessica is looking forward to WNBA games (1:06:04) Shireen is looking forward to watching the Women’s World Cup final in cricket between India and England and then watch France keeps it’s head above water at the Euros (1:06:27)
Links
India vs England, Women’s Cricket World Cup final: Players to watch out for
http://www.hindustantimes.com/cricket/india-vs-england-women-s-cricket-world-cup-final-players-to-watch-out-for/story-1dsHuK2jFt7JYo7Z3pOmrI.html
England Beats India for Women’s Cricket World Cup. The Sport Is the Big Winner: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/21/sports/womens-cricket-world-cup.html?smid=tw-nytsports&smtyp=cur&_r=0
No welcome, no transport as Pakistan women cricketers return home
http://nation.com.pk/sports/17-Jul-2017/sana-mir-may-lose-captaincy-due-to-pakistan-s-dismal-world-cup-performance
Athletes of the North American Indigenous Games 2017:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/the-roots-of-the-indigenous-games-naig-2017-sports-toronto-north-american/article35692633/
Tracie Leost: http://www.vogue.com/article/cass-mccombs-video-premiere-run-sister-run-tracie-lost
Chris Mosier on Bill SB3: https://twitter.com/i/moments/888158272842334208
Erika Nardini in NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/14/business/erika-nardini-barstool-sports-value-of-leading-10-percent-players.html?src=mv&_r=0
Seattle Storm with Planned Parenthood: https://thinkprogress.org/wnba-planned-parenthood-rally-8967bc1ce66c
Nadia Nadim: http://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/news/newsid=2487547.html
Claressa Shields: http://www.worldboxingnews.net/2017/07/17/news/claressa-shields-wins-nickelodeon-kids-choice-sports-award-for-biggest-powerhouse
Transcript
Shireen: Welcome to this week's episode of Burn It All Down. It may not be the feminist sports podcast you want, but it's the feminist sports podcast you need. On this week's panel we have Jessica Luther, independent writer, general slayer, and author of Unsportsmanlike Conduct: College Football and the Politics of Rape. She's in Austin, Texas. Brenda Elsey, associate professor of history and undeniable genius at Hofstra University in New York. And I'm Shireen Ahmed, freelance writer and cat lover in Toronto, Canada. Today we will be discussing the Women's World Cup and cricket and fangirling all over the skill, wonder and excitement; the North American Indigenous Games, and I share my interview with Metis runner and athlete activist Tracie Léost. We will hear from Lindsay, who was in Seattle covering the WNBA All Star game. And we've got snippets from Sue Bird, Cheryl Reeve, Lisa Borders, and the east’s breakout star, Jonquel Jones. And Jessica, Brenda and I will share our thoughts on the current environment of sportswriting. Jessica, can you start us off?
Jessica: Good morning, everybody. So, as we are recording this, across the pond in England at the Lord's cricket ground in London, England is playing India in the final of the Women's Cricket World Cup. And I'm sure if there's a finale somewhere in here, Shireen will update us. The event is sold out with roughly 26,000 spectators watching the action. This is no small thing. Here's what Tim Wigmore of the New York Times wrote about this watershed tournament for women's cricket: “For the first time since the Women's World Cup began in 1973, the players have received daily expenses equal to those provided for men at international cricket council events, and the visiting teams flew to England for the tournament in business class, as has long been the norm for men. Prize money has increased 2 million, 10 times the figure for the previous tournament, which was held in India in 2013. The competition, which started among 8 teams on June 24th, has so far attracted a global television audience of over 50 million, an 80% increase from 2013.” And then there are the more than 26,500 tickets that have been bought for Sunday, for today. A record for a Women's World Cup match. It is also about six times the old high mark, 4,426, for any women's match at Lord’s.
Okay. So, the World Cup has been played since 1973, but it's been a rough go. Sometimes in search of enough teams. Most often there are searches for money and resources. It's actually only been since 2005 when the International Women's Cricket Council and the International Cricket Council became one that the Women's World Cup has been held at regular four year intervals, and actually has secure funding. Here again is the New York Times' Wigmore. Quote, “Perhaps most significant has been the growing interest in women's cricket in India, the economic powerhouse of the men's game. In 2015, India introduced national contracts for its elite players, becoming the last of the top eight women's teams to do so.” Mithali Raj, the captain for India's team and a former badass woman of the week on this podcast, told the Times, “It would be a revolution for women's cricket in India if we go on to win the World Cup. It would be a real big thing. We'd be in a better position to promote the game and create a brand value for women's cricket.” This just reminds me that women are never just playing sport for sport's sake. They're always playing it for the future of the sport. And for the girls coming up behind them. This is no different today.
So now I don't want to pretend that I understand cricket, because I've actually never watched a match in my entire life. That's my Americanness shining through. But before I hand the baton off here, I do want to give a shoutout to India's Harmanpreet Kaur. In the semifinal against Australia last week – and let's be clear, Australia is the most dominant team, they’re defending champions, they have won six of the 10 World Cups so far. Kaur was spectacular. Here's how CNN described her play: “The Indian women's cricketer drew worldwide acclaim for her historic 171 not out against Australia to send her country through to only its second ever Women's World Cup final. It's an innings that has been compared to some of the best in one day international history. Only three players in the history of the competition have recorded a higher inning score.” So, it shouldn't have to be said, but I'm going to say it anyway. These women can play. Alright. Shireen, tell us…I know you're freaking out about what's going on right now in the finals. So why don't you tell us your thoughts on this Women's World Cup?
Shireen: Well, admittedly I'm of South Asian descent, so cricket plays a huge part in my family, and I have cousins that play competitively. And the only reason – and they'll probably kill me when I say this – that I got really interested in cricket at all was because of women. I started to follow Pakistan’s girls in green, and that really started to have me pay attention. I was very confused by the rules of cricket, and I was really only in it for the food, like the kebabs and the parathas at the family gatherings, let's be honest. But I really, really started to get into it because of this, and this particular Women's World Cup has been very exciting because of the amount of coverage. Like, I followed the T20s, I wrote about the West Indian women last year when they won, and it was wonderful. I wrote for gal–dem about the Windies winning, because the men had won and the women had won and the solidarity was really incredible. And I've seen the likeness of that with the girls in blue, the Indian team. Harmanpreet Kaur’s achievement was incredible when they played against Australia.
There were, you know, Sachin Tendulkar was a former Indian player, he's retired now, he's considered one of the greatest. He was tweeting out support. Everybody was oohing and aahing, I mean, you know, as they should be. She was literally slaying it. And it was so exciting to watch because of the excitement, which I had never seen before. Like, cricket, India is constantly tweeting about it. Mithali Raj has her own hashtag on Twitter, her little emoji. Like this is…And as you said, she was our badass woman of the week a couple of weeks ago. Also, the way that the women respect each other is incredible. After the match against Australia, Alex Blackwell actually gave her jersey to Kaur, in a show of solidarity and support.
Jessica: That’s awesome.
Shireen: Which I think is wonderful. Yeah. And this kind of stuff is important to encourage each other. And it's very, very competitive. But I mean, cricket has, if we look at it a little bit historically, has long been in the blood and the veins of these women. It's just giving them an opportunity to get out there and showcase their talent and show the world. And this game is a big deal. And I mean, at this point right now, Mithali Raj and Kaur have not yet batted, so we'll see what happens in the next couple minutes. You know, cricket matches are pretty long. But I'm excited about all of it. I mean, I did not put this on the burn pile, but this morning, ESPNcricinfo website, when it listed the matches – actually I retweeted this – said there's no current match happening right now during the final. So people are completely shutting them down. So, I mean, there's still some work to do here, but this is incredible. It's very, very exciting.
Jessica: Shireen, didn't something happened with the Pakistani women's team when they returned? I saw you tweeting about it the other day.
Shireen: Yeah, I was raging about this on Twitter. The girls in green, as they're known, I love them. They're led by captain Sana Mir. They've worked quietly and diligently and faced a lot of obstacles. They returned back to Pakistan after they lost all their matches in this World Cup. They didn't do very well, like, undeniably. It was a bit of a dismal performance. But when they returned back, there was nobody from the Pakistan cricket board. It was reported by the Tribune, I believe, that nobody was there to receive them. There wasn't a member. There was no staff person. And more importantly, there was no transportation. So one player actually called her dad who came on a motorcycle and drove two of the girls home. And there was a photo of that. Now, everyone started rage-tweeting as expected, and this is not how you treat a national squad. This isn't how you do it. You want to develop a team. You invest in them. Yes, they’re not going to win all the time, but that doesn't mean you leave them stranded.
Then there was rumors that the PCB was going fire Sana Mir and replace some of the senior players. It was in such poor taste and it was really bad timing. Like, they didn't have a great run at this particular tournament. They'll suit up and they'll try again. And I mean, yes, Pakistan men have won the most recent tournament, but for years before that, they won nothing. So, I mean, I'm not trying to say, oh, it's the same as the men's game. We know it's different. But support for women's sport is crucial, and particularly when it is still developing. So I was raging. And the Pakistan cricket board did release what I considered a there’s no other word for it but meh statement about it, and said, no, there was a misunderstanding and it was wrongly reported. But no, the source that reported that was legitimate. And I just was really, really angry about it because those women have gone without support and without enough funding for a really long time. So, the world of cricket, as exciting as it is, we hope that other countries and other boards look to the way India is supporting its women and excited about it. And hopefully they'll catch on.
Jessica: Yeah, I think this is one of the really frustrating things about women's sport in general is that they, you know, historically they're massively under-resourced compared to the men's game, but then when they go out to play they're expected to always win. Like, if they're not winning every single thing, then somehow they are undeserving of the very little resources that they've already been given. It's a horrific catch-22 that makes it really hard for women's sport to grow. Like, there's no way to win in that setup. And I feel like this is such a great example, that they just didn't care about them when they came home because they didn't win enough. But like, as you said, they haven't been supported in their country in the way that they should have been for a really long time. And if you're really going to grow a game, you have to take the losses with the wins. Like, that's part of athletics.
And the sort of expectation for women is so incredibly high. I mean, I said this in the intro to this segment, but you know, all of these Indian women cricketers, when they've been interviewed about what's happening with their team and how well they've done, they talk about what it means for the future and how important it will be for the growth of the game within their country. And that's just…The immense pressure there to win, not just to be champions and you know, the excitement of that, but like the pressure to grow the game. It's just so unfair to women athletes. It just shouldn't be that way. I'm just infinitely frustrated at this setup for women’s sports.
Shireen: And a lot of the cricketers that have been interviewed talk specifically about that. What you said is key, to grow the game, to inspire other girls to play and to get them involved and let them know that they belong on that field. And it's so interesting that they're never just focused…You know, they’re determined to win, but they're always focused on growing the game. And that's just so key here. And I mean, I fought about this with my cousin last night, actually, who is trying to say, well, you know, small steps, small steps. But I mean, I want more steps. I want better steps to support women in sport. And sport development for women doesn't work like that if you just expect them to win all the time. You’ve gotta invest in them. You've gotta invest the time, you've gotta invest in proper coaching, equipment, time. It's only a couple of years ago that women were actually given memberships to cricket clubs in Pakistan to practice. They had no specific field. So, it's gotta come. And then at the same time, they're expected to win everything. It doesn't make sense. I hope that what comes out of this World Cup is excitement and understanding and a commitment to develop and invest further in these women.
Moving on to our next topic, the North American Indigenous Games wrapped up in Toronto. Last night was the closing ceremonies. The NAIG started in 1990 and have representation from teams from all over Canada and the US. This year, NAIG 2017 is expected to be the largest sporting and cultural gathering of Indigenous peoples in North America. More than 5,000 participants, 2000 volunteers, countless spectators, for more than 14 different categories are being held within top venues across the Greater Toronto Area. NAIG will unite individuals and communities across North America through sport. And – I’m reading this from their website – in order to celebrate our past heritage, present unity and future youth. In the spirit of the NAIG movement, the Toronto 2017 NAIG strives to promote the unity of Indigenous peoples across North America and cultivate opportunities for physical, cultural, and social development.
I wanted to read off something that Senator Constance Simmonds – she's Metis from the Métis Nation of Ontario – said to the athletes during the opening ceremonies last week, she said to them, “Do you know that you are the answer to a prayer? A prayer that was sent out by our ancestors seven generations ago. And here we are, the pride of your family, the pride of your community, the pride of your nation rests on you.” I just thought that was really, really, really beautiful. And I had a conversation with Tracie Léost, who is a student athlete and activist at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan. And our dear listeners know that I'm never speechless, but Tracie really blew me away and she told me about how she uses sports to highlight the crisis of over 3000 missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. Her efforts have been chronicled in the Globe and Mail, Vogue, the Toronto Star, among others. And here's my conversation with Tracie.
I’m so happy to have you on the phone with me, and very thankful because you still have two events to do today.
Tracie: I just really appreciate the opportunity to speak to you.
Shireen: Tracie, just to give us…Your story became national. And I think you were covered globally, and there was a feature on you in Vogue magazine, actually, about the work you've done to raise awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. And I know this is something that's so close to you. Can you tell us what kind of prompted the idea for you to run four days, 115 kilometers?
Tracie: Yeah, so, it actually all started for me in the 2014 North American Indigenous Games. It was in Regina, Saskatchewan, and it was just this experience that I had at the opening ceremonies that really had an impact on me, and I was just surrounded by 4,000+ Indigenous athletes. And the person speaking just kept saying that the people here, these athletes, we’re the generation that picks up the broken pieces, and whatever changes you decide to make, this is the people that will affect and this is the people who will help. And something about that just really stuck with me. And how I best describe it is I left NAIG in 2014 with a fire burning inside of me that I just needed. I needed to address something and I needed to help my people somehow. And that year I went into grade 11 and I took a couple of Indigenous studies courses. And I had a great teacher, thankfully, and we had a project about missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and the whole point was to not only focus on the numbers and what happened to them, but their life and story and the fact that they're more than just a stat in a national crisis, and these are our people.
But that really opened my eyes because I wasn't really aware that this was a national crisis and that there was thousands upon thousands of women that are just disappearing and no one seems to care. So, I wanted people to know what was happening, because I remember that there wasn't a conversation about it, and it was important to me to make others aware of what was happening, because people weren't very supportive towards Indigenous people either. And that's where I got the idea to use my running shoes to give silence a voice. I've been a runner all my life, so it just made sense to me to use running to make a change somehow. And it ended up being running for my grandparents' house in Oak Point, Manitoba, to The Forks in Winnipeg. And the route I pass is very historical to my life and where I grew up. And it was 115 kilometers in total in four days, and I raised $6,101 for a local organization that helps the families and victims affected in any way that they can.
Shireen: And did you get support from greater athletes in the running community? Or was it predominantly the Indigenous community that rallied around you?
Tracie: No one really caught onto it first. There was a lot of like, oh, this is really cool idea. Like, good for you, it’s really great what you're doing. But a lot of people were really doubtful, because when does someone actually run 115 kilometers in four days? And when does, first of all, a female, and secondly an Indigenous female, right? Like, people are really doubtful and negative and discriminative to those types of people. So, it was a lot of doubt at first. And despite that, I kept moving forward, like yes, I'm going to do this. And whether you believe in my cause or not, this is really important to me. Because I remember it was predominantly male athletes telling me that running 115 kilometers is not going to get you anywhere. “Educate yourself about something that matters, make a change about something that's actually important.” Like, people were really rude. And to me, that kind of just inspired me. Like, I use that as motivation to just move forward. And that is exactly why I'm doing what I'm doing. And now, two years later, the MMIW Journey of Hope is a global conversation. And the people that have been telling me this are now trying to say like, oh, I'm really proud of everything you've done. [Shireen laughs]
But like, I can't forget what they said and how that motivated me. So I think that they realize now that you can't do that and you can't say stuff like that. And they’re, I guess, realizing how much bigger this cause actually is to me and our greater country. But athletes are really, really, really supportive to me, whether that'd be track teammates or hockey players or volleyball players. Anytime I ever post anything about it, the reply back from all sorts of athletes is incredible. I really appreciate it, definitely, and I love that athletes supporting athletes. But more importantly, the Indigenous community has been behind me the whole way. There's no doubt. It's been nothing but love and support from them. And that's something I really, really appreciate.
Shireen: You embody not just being an Indigenous woman but a youth. And you started this whole thing when you were 15 years old, which is when this happened, although you've been running your whole life. And I just think that's so important because, like you said, people dismissing what is so important to you…And that's so harrowing, that experience, and it's something that's commonly experienced by athletes in the margins and women in the margins who are dismissed by, you know, white male counterparts in that regard. And you took it, you literally ran with it. Like, literally! [laughter] And have just drawn so much attention in a way that you're merging worlds of sport and of justice. And that’s so beautiful and incredibly important. Like, I'm just floored, but I'm also really honored to be talking to you because this is incredible. And so where are you going from here? What are the next steps after you medal at NAIG?
Tracie: For me, I'm competing here and I'm telling a lot of people it's not about medals for me. I'm competing against a lot of incredible athletes. And although I was really successful in 2014, I would like to say I'm a different person now because that whole experience changed my life phenomenally. Being here is more important than the medals itself. And I don't feel that if I have a medal or I don't have a medal, it doesn't reflect my experience, because I stand here along 5215 other Indigenous athletes who are coming together to raise our voices and voice our causes and come together to change our nation and things that are affecting these people directly. So, my moving forward, I always feel really inspired being at NAIG and hearing people's stories. So I always use that as an advantage to come home and use that and be a voice to what's happening. So, my teammates come from across the province.
I have a teammate who's actually medaled in two of his events so far, he's doing great. And I asked him how he trains in the winter and offseason or how he trained in general, because he's from Cross Lake First Nation and there's not a lot of resources in our First Nations community because the government underfunds them by 30 to 50%. So the funds are very low for them, and he runs and snowshoes in the winter to train. I have teammates in Alonsa, Manitoba who run down gravel roads as sprinters. Like, that's their training. I guess normal for them to sprint that past, like, a cattle farm. Like, that's totally normal. Or I had teammates that don't have connections to proper attire, like proper running shoes or things that will help them phenomenally. So for me, I come here and I get to meet incredible people and hear incredible stories. And this isn't just Canada, it's across North America. So now you're connecting with people from the States and they're connecting with people from Canada and together you just come together and be a voice for each other.
And I remember in a lot of my competitions, there wasn't a lot of love in high school. You didn't really support other women you were competing against. They were quite mean to each other, actually. And here, I just love that regardless of who you are, where you come from, you're supported. You are appreciated. There's no discrimination whatsoever. And when you're running and someone passes you or you pass someone, they encourage you, you encourage them. And every time you're running, every person in the stands is cheering for you. It’s not just for team Manitoba, team Saskatchewan, team Ontario, team Colorado. Everyone cheers for everyone. And it’s really important for me and for others to understand that they're in a place where they're supported, and a place they’re comfortable and finally being cheered for, because that's not something that they've always experienced. So I always take that as motivation to move forward and to be a voice for others. I'll be going back to school in the fall–
Shireen: And this is the University of Manitoba, correct?
Tracie: I’m at the University Regina.
Shireen: Oh, Regina, sorry. Okay.
Tracie: Scholarship student there at an Indigenous program. So I kind of use all of this motivation, I put it directly into my social work degree because it connects so perfectly because social work reflects exactly on everything these people experience. So I use it as knowledge and motivation, but from there I volunteer in my community and coach inner city and underprivileged youth. I coach them hockey in the winter. So again, there is where I learned what they experienced. Most of my kids are in group homes and have had really tough lives, so they really appreciate the chance to play hockey for free, they get the equipment for free. And they're great kids and they learn a lot and they're in a place where they're supported and loved as well. So, I share my experience with them. I use the knowledge and experience in my degree and in my community, and that I feel I connect with people, but I greater my knowledge and I understand more. And I feel like when you understand, you can connect with people, you can make a bigger difference.
So for me, it's not just about MMIW but it could be about the water boil advisory or that the government is discriminating against First Nations communities and underfund them 50 to 30% less in every aspect of their life. Or how our CFS systems are kind of in shambles right now and our poor children are suffering. So it's stuff like that that I learn about and can be a voice about, and once you understand you can move forward and make a bigger difference.
Shireen: And using sport as a tool of empowerment as well is really, really incredible. And is there anything that you're really looking forward to?
Tracie: In track and field I'm in a new event, javelin. So I'm really excited to try that out. I only picked up a javelin the first time two weeks ago, actually.
Shireen: Oh! [laughs]
Tracie: So, at a North American Indigenous Games in javelin, a whole new event. So I'm really excited for that. Also, the 4x4 relay is a huge event in track and field. But I think about the other teams here…I’m obviously excited for everybody, but we're not all on the same campus. So I'm staying with people that are playing basketball, wrestling and volleyball. So, because lacrosse and archery, soccer and baseball is really far away, we’ve only really gotten to watch basketball and volleyball predominantly. Also swimming is here, but I’m rooting for all of our teams, but those are the few I've had the opportunity to watch. And I know a couple of the people on those teams. I'm just really excited to go.
Shireen: That sounds amazing. I wish you all the best in your 3000 meter and your javelin, and I'm sure you'll totally play today. I am so grateful that you're speaking to me, and all the best to your community and your team and your fellow athletes. And what you've done is…You, in my opinion, are a national treasure, and I wish you all the best today. And always.
Tracie: Thank you very much. I really, really appreciate it. This has been awesome.
Shireen: Thanks so much, Tracie. Take care.
Tracie: Thank you.
Shireen: Our very own Lindsay Gibbs has been in Seattle covering the WNBA All Star game, and we're lucky enough to have some of her clips of interviews with the players. Here she is.
Lindsay: Hey friends. I'm so sad I couldn't be on the panel this week, but I did have an excused absence. I was in Seattle for the WNBA All Star game! Since you all couldn't be with me, I wanted to share a few of my favorite moments with you, starting of course with this Sue Bird/Diana Taurasi post-game press conference, where they were asked once again how special it is to still be playing together in All Star games all these years later.
Sue Bird: It’s special. It is special. You know, I think we've actually had moments more so at the Olympics where it's like, you know, we play together a lot, we've done this a lot. It’s slowly coming to an end. So, I don't think either of us really take it for granted. We know that, yes, we’ve played a ton together, but maybe this is the last time we get to be on the same court, you know? So, we definitely clicked right away and it's seamless, you know, we fall right back into it. And it's always fun.
Diana Taurasi: I mean, it's funny because one of our friends we went to college with, before the game she goes, “Congrats, the oldest All Star duo of all time.” [laughter] So I need to fact check on that. [laughter]
Lindsay: While the west won the game 131 to 120, it was a 6’6” 23 year old from The Bahamas on the east team who really stole the show. Jonquel Jones, a forward from the Connecticut Sun, scored a game high 24 points and finished with a dunk. When I asked Nneka Ogwumike who impressed her the most on the east, she didn't hold back. And neither did Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi when I asked them the same question at their post-game presser.
The east had a lot of new players, a lot of young players. Who were you most impressed with?
Nneka Ogwumike: Of course Jonquel Jones. She did awesome. And that dunk in the end was what we needed. We were just like, everybody's watching and go out there and do it. She had the confidence. She was like, yeah, just need some space! So we were like, all right, we'll get out of the way and you can do your thing.
Diana Taurasi: I mean, you know, there's her stature and the way she can handle the ball, shoot the ball. She works so easily on court, and I just think she's got a really bright future.
Sue Bird: Yeah. That skill set and that height. And like you said, there's something very…It’s like she just flows out there and it's fun to watch. She did great.
Lindsay: So, after the game, Sue and Diana were seen talking to Jonquel for quite some time. When asked in press what they were talking about, Sue said that Jonquel was actually apologizing for falling asleep early the night before and being the only WNBA All Star to miss Sue's party. Sue wondered if perhaps Jonquel’s early sleep regimen had something to do with her success at the game. So I asked her about it during the presser.
Jonquel Jones: Yeah. I feel bad because I had all intentions of going, but when I got back to my room I think everything just finally started catching up to me and I think the whole day I was kinda just running off adrenaline, you know, just excited to be here, excited to go to all the different events. That was the first time in the day that I actually slowed down and was hit like a freight train, just exhausted. It’s like, nah, I can’t make it. I showed and passed out. [laughter] So that’s the plan, I guess. If I’m here next year, I gotta do it again.
Lindsay: Another player on the east that really impressed me was Allie Quigley, who is pretty much the opposite of Jonquel Jones. She's 31 years old, she’s 5’10”, and it took her many years to really find her WNBA legs. This was her first All Star game and she actually won the three point contest at halftime, which was a really fun event. In the locker room, I asked the Chicago Sky star how she felt going into the contest, and for information about the Pat Quigley Memorial Fund, which is where she donated the $10,000 she won in the three point contest.
Allie Quigley: I just stay confident and not get too nervous, because it gets a little nerve wracking when they call your name and it’s just ready, set, go, you know? So I'm just trying to get in a rhythm and, you know, stay confident.
Lindsay: Did you do anything special to prepare?
Allie Quigley: Not really. I think after that first round I kind of got the nerves out, and then I felt a little better in the second one.
Lindsay: Tell me about the Memorial Fund.
Allie Quigley: It was from my dad. He passed away when I was about seven. He went to the same high school I went to. And so for the high school we try to do a Pat Quigley Memorial Scholarship every year for a family or a kid that really needs it.
Lindsay: Going back to Sue and Diana, both of them actually played with Allie earlier in their careers. And I absolutely loved their insight when a reporter asked if they ever saw her becoming an All Star.
Sue Bird: So, she played in Phoenix and Seattle early in her career. So we were having a conversation, and I don't wanna take your words…But so in Seattle, she was trying to be this backup point guard, or our team was trying to make her backup point guard. And she’s a scorer. Clearly. And I think for her, her game just evolved when she went overseas and she learned how to be the focal point. And she learned how to take on that responsibility, and then came back to the WNBA and did great as a sixth man. And slowly, you can see, you know, she's made the transformation into a go-to player. And so I mean, in practice, I have to guard her a lot. She's always been able to do that. It was not even guarding her in practice. But for us, she's at that point guard spot. So it didn't necessarily make sense. And then…D has some good points there.
Diana Taurasi: Yeah. I mean, you can tell early on she had some special about the way she would score the basketball and, you know, she filled out a little bit physically and now she’s just such a good, confident basketball player. She knows what does really well. And she's one of the best in the world. You know, obviously at the three point contest she showed what kind of touch she has. And you know, I think she's reached that point where she's a confident basketball player. You know, her play's developed.
Lindsay: While I was at All Star weekend, I was also reporting on a ThinkProgress piece about athlete activism. One of the players I talked to was the great Tina Charles, who I asked about the impact she thought that last summer's Black Lives Matter protest in the WNBA had, and why she got involved.
Tina Charles: I think it was a growth and empowerment in the sense of the WNBA, and us being able to use our voice to advocate for what we believed in. And you know, African-American oppression and police brutality. It was really important to us, you know? The WNBA is made up of 70% of African-Americans. So for me personally, to spearhead what was going on the, the place I thought the WNBA should have taken, it was a no brainer for me. I consider myself to have a voice and I have a right to use it, you know? And that's something that my mom made very pivotal in my life at a young age. You know, there's many things that I advocate for. But when it comes to African-American oppression and what was going on last summer, it was second nature for me.
Lindsay: I also talked about athlete activism with Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve, who was on hand to coach the west. The Lynx really kicked off the league's Black Lives Matter protest last year, so I wanted to get her insights. Here are some excerpts from that conversation.
Cheryl Reeve: We were in Connecticut when it first kinda came to a head. Seimone being from an area in Baton Rouge where she frequented the store where the murder took place. And then obviously hitting close to home, Philando Castile right there in St. Paul for us. We just started talking about it. And it's a very, very thoughtful group, a very mature group. And I advocate for them to use their voices, you know, because we're more than just basketball players, you know? We’re a family, first and foremost. And for me it was very painful to know I'm a white person and how impacted their families are, and the fear that they have. And I've heard a number of stories along the way about social injustice. And so, you know, I just wanted to give him a platform. We just want to be leaders. That's what I think leaders do. You know, they're not just so tunnel vision on themselves. I mean, leaders are involved in their communities. And that's what we want. We want people to have courage to stand up for these things and speak out.
Lindsay: Speaking of speaking out, I couldn't leave without sitting down with Sue Bird one-on-one to discuss, among other things, the reaction to her ESPN profile where she came out, and also her thoughts on WNBA activism. Here are some clips from that talk.
Sue, obviously it's been a big couple of days for you, and I know the ESPN article…How’s the response been, and how are you feeling?
Sue Bird: Feeling great, you know? Actually, not much different than I did two days ago, which is, you know, nice. And the response has been amazing, you know, a lot of support, people just saying congratulations was kind of funny in a way, but also very much appreciated.
Lindsay: Yeah. I've been talking to everyone about the WNBA activism and what an important and integral part it's become of the league. I know you were involved last year in Black Lives Matter with the Seattle team. What are your memories from last summer?
Sue Bird: Yeah. Obviously my memories from last summer, you know, from a Seattle standpoint, yes, our team came together and wanted to be a part of what our league was doing, but what made it special was the entire league was on the same page, you know? And the WNBA being one of just a few professional female leagues out there, we have this platform and we need to use it. And we represent so many different walks of life. And from that standpoint, we need to make sure we use our voices.
Lindsay: Why does the WNBA…It seems to lend itself well to activism. My theory sometimes is that female athletes are already kind of bold in their mere existence. [laughs]
Sue Bird: [laughs] They’re fighting anyways.
Lindsay: [laughs] Yeah. You're fighting anyways. Does that sound right? I mean, is that…
Sue Bird: Yeah. I think it's a part of it, you know? I think as a female athlete, even though it’s…You know, the WNBA has now been around for our 21st season, which is amazing in so many ways. We’re still fighting, you know? We’re still trying to prove ourselves and get things moving in the right direction. And so I think it is innate in us to have that fighting mentality, to speak up on things that we see happening. And then at the same time, the makeup of our league, you know, it's a melting pot, you know, and with that, again, bringing it back to what I was saying before, you're kind of exposed to things and you see things and you’re bringing your own story to it. And I don't know, it just lends to a certain amount of activism. It just naturally fits.
Lindsay: Okay, friends. Thank you so much for bearing with me and the audio as I relived a fantastic weekend. I'm going to leave you back to the panel now, but first, some words from WNBA president Lisa Borders from her press conference before the game.
Lisa Borders: Our players are amazing athletes. They display their talents every single day. But that’s what they do. That’s not who they are. There are dimensions to their personalities. They have passions, they have purpose in life and they understand that they have a platform to share what they think about any and possibly everything. Now, I've told many of you, I will celebrate my 60th birthday this year. And so many of you know, I grew up in an era before Title IX. It wasn't passed until 1972 and I was in high school. And I come from the segregated south. Atlanta is my home city. So, recognizing that women still appear to be a disenfranchised group where folks think they have the right to tell us what to do with our bodies and who we should love, that's not happening here in Seattle and that's not happening in the WNBA.
Shireen: Moving on to our next topic. Brenda, would you like to start us on this one?
Brenda: Sure. Thanks, Shireen. So, this week we learned that Vice would be ending its sports site, and this sports coverage, as far as I understand, is going to continue on Vice, but it's transitioning to video. This seems to be a growing trend because just last month, Fox Sports also announced a switch to video content instead of its usual text-based content. Many of us here at Burn It All Down have written for Vice Sports. We'd like to talk about it a little bit and what it means that that particular site took a lot of important pieces that didn't have homes in other places. So, I admit that personally I'm a little distressed because I read it all the time. I've only written one piece for them with Josh Nadel, which was a long essay on the status of women's soccer in South America. We couldn't get anyone else to touch that, in Chile or Argentina. And the best part of it was that they had a Spanish site. So we wrote it and then they immediately translated it, which is really unique. I mean, the Guardian has tried to do it a little bit, but it's very difficult to get that going.
From what I've been reading on social media, a lot of these sites are going over to video content because advertisers can force users to engage more solidly with the video than the text. Basically, you're forced to click through or to watch the ad or to watch part of the ad. I'm a reader myself. So, I'm bummed. And I can only see this limiting the voices and subject matters that get covered because of the way that video works. But then again, maybe I'm just reticent to change. So, I want to ask you guys, what do you think this means?
Jessica: Oh man. I mean, I'll say I am nervous about it. I've only ever been a full-time freelancer since I got into this, which means that I've never actually been on a staff before. So, every single piece that I write I have to pitch to a site and an editor has to take it, and this can be a long process. So, for example, I just wrote a piece about girls that play baseball, and it actually took me about four months to place that. There were a lot of rejections involved before Bleacher Report took it up. And, you know, Vice Sports for me was a place where there were certain things that I knew that they would publish. And they were better than most places about women's sport in particular, I wrote about female athletes for them. And as a freelance writer, that's a really important thing, knowing where you can go to get stuff published. And I'm real nervous about what this says, both for women's sport coverage, where we're headed, if we're having less space to write about sports in general, and there's already a crisis with how much – how little, I guess I should say – women’s sports gets covered. What does that mean then if we're already shrinking the size?
And then like you said, Brenda, Vice Sports was so good about international sport. Like, it was actually one of the places that I would go to see if there was something written about something happening outside of the US. You know, you can do that a little bit with the Guardian, you know, hop over to England for us English speakers to find that kind of stuff. But yeah, it was so good for that. And I am nervous about where this is all headed.
Shireen: I, like Jessica, have actually never been on staff to write. So I'm in the same position. And Vice was actually where I got my first writing job, and I wrote about the hijab ban in basketball. And it was a story that I pitched to about 12 places, and they took it. And then very recently when the hijab ban was rescinded, I was lucky enough to write for them again to sort of wrap it up, and it came full circle for me to be able to have that. And I think that a lot of us are very invested in the stories we write about. And I mean, I can only speak for myself, but it meant a lot to me to be able to write for them. And for me it was one of the most cathartic experiences. And I'm really sad to see it go, because it's one of the places where I've seen the most diversity in writers as well. I've seen different kinds of stories and them being really open. Like, their editorial staff is fantastic. And this is a hit for people, myself, that actually are like…One of the best places that I've ever worked at as Vice Sports. So I'm really sad about this.
Brenda: And, you know, having those stories out there means a lot to women athletes themselves. When we did that story on South American soccer, Josh and I interviewed different members of the women's national team. And they wrote back to us how much it meant to them to see it in print, even before the Spanish translation came out, to see pictures of themselves that they could show their parents. And they actually went to the FA and showed the FA, look at this story that's being written about us. So, it can be a way that women athletes advocate for themselves. It can be a support for them. So, I think it goes back around and actually feeds into the development of women's sports itself.
Jessica: And this is part of a long chain of events, right? So, Brenda mentioned Fox Sports getting rid of all written content and replacing it with solely video. A lot of it coming from FS1, which is kind of mainly just a garbage pile of people. But you know, MTV news is gone. They've shut down recently, which, you know, it wasn't a ton of sports coverage, but it was run by people who used to run Grantland, which was ESPN’s sort of long form interesting site. And I will say, you know, mentioning Grantland, these sites aren't perfect. And some of them have done damage in the work that they do, a Grantland in particular with their Dr. V story. But sort of looking at the larger landscape here, there were massive layoffs at ESPN recently, most of those people were front end writers that a lot of us knew. SI, Sports Illustrated has laid off people recently, and they've just been, you know, purging over the last couple of years as they've been losing funding. And it's not really clear what's going to happen with Sports Illustrated. I think there were rumors recently that one of Donald Trump's friends might buy the group that owned Sports Illustrated. So like, where is that headed?
And so, Gawker went down. Deadspin at least survived after Gawker went down. I mean, there's just so much going on. And part of it for me is, you know, there's like a selfish part, like when ESPN lays off people who are so good at their job and their job is similar to my job, and I think, oh crap, like, now I'm up against these people that are going to have to freelance like I am. But then I just…I don't know where this is all headed, at this point. You know, as a freelancer, one of the things I get a lot is why don't you get on staff? Which, you know, is kind of laughable because I don't think my brand would work well on a staff. I think I'm a little too much of a firebrand maybe to actually get on a staff. I wouldn't play well by the brands for the brand's reputation maybe. But as a freelancer, looking at this landscape, you know, people tell me, get on staff, it’s stable. And I'm like, is it? What does stable look like in the media right now? And so what does that mean for people coming up behind us? What is this going to look like? I'm going to pitch this off to Shireen right now, but like, what does this mean for women as sports writers?
Shireen: Well, I mean, I speak to university students, I go to conferences, and I'm always encouraging young women to get into sports fields, but then I don't want to feel like I'm being naive when I give this advice, because it’s really important to understand about being able to pay your bills. I mean, there was a really great thread on Twitter. A friend of the show and a colleague of ours who writes about hockey, Kate Cimini, tweeted about this, about how freelancing was actually costing her out of pocket. And I think we need to look at that because the caliber of her work is excellent. And a lot of the female sportswriters that I know are actually freelance. I think I could only name maybe a dozen that are on staff somewhere. And those numbers are really not great. And I've thought about it, like, do I need to get a second job to be able to support what I do? Because there's kids, there's family, there's commitments and there's everything else. And I love this work.
Case in point, I love this podcast so much, and it's important, and people have told us it's important work. We don't get paid for it. We prep. We do research. We do this, we organize, we collaborate. And I mean, I think that's one of the things, that doing this is not…How financially feasible is it? And when we give advice to encourage other women to get involved in sports, but then it's a catch-22. We want to tell them to get involved, but then again are like, okay, well, wait, you need to do something that's sustainable for you because financial security is crucial. In an era where, you know, there may not be a medical care or medical insurance, health insurance available, or whatnot in the world that we live in right now. You have to be looking at the whole picture. And as I have no answer for it. I'm trying to be really positive about it, but I've just been drinking a lot of coffee and drowning my anxiety in that a little bit, to be honest.
Brenda: And you know, I’d just like to add that I think this is part of a broader trend. From what I've read, women are poised to be the majority of the gig economy. And initially people thought maybe this will be great for women that have to juggle a family and other kinds of demands on their time. But what's happened is, instead of getting benefits, as you mentioned, Shireen, instead of having stability, the gig economy hasn't been this feminist godsend that people originally thought it might. Instead, it's a lack of parental leave, a lack of disability, things like that. So, the sportswriting is a particular space, but I think it's also connected to these broader trends. Jess, did you wanna wrap this up for us?
Jessica: Yeah. I just wanted to finish by saying that video is terrible. And as a consumer of media, I'm really sad about this move. So like, as a content creator, it's alarming for me, but I hate video. Like, I don't like watching it. Maybe that makes me an old lady and I don't know, but you know, when I'm in public, if I don't have headphones, how am I supposed to consume this media? Like, I'm not going to be the asshole who's watching a video without my headphones in. I hate those people too. And I just get really worried about what this means for storytelling moving forward. Like, what that looks like. You can say a lot more in words than you can with video. And then again, just as a consumer, what this means, it's all very concerning.
Brenda: Well, and you can't really…This gig economy doesn't work so well if it becomes video. That’s a very different…Even that is a very different platform. Okay, I know I said it was the last thing, and I'm a terrible liar, but one more thing is that there's no evidence that audiences are demanding more video. From what I read on NBC, I mean, the statistics are not pointing in that direction. So, what you're saying is really interesting, that this is coming from advertisers, not from audiences. Okay. Now I swear it’s over.
Shireen: [laughs] I could listen to forever, as long as you don't make a video. [laughter] No, that's not true. I love your videos as well. No disrespect.
Brenda: Now you’re getting one. Now you’re getting one today.
Shireen: No disrespect to any of the amazing video producers that we know.
Jessica: Of course not! No.
Shireen: We love you and your work is important. It's just, yeah, absolutely. I like reading. Moving on to everyone's favorite segment, it’s the burn pile. Jessica, what are you flaming this week?
Jessica: Yeah. So, I hope you guys will indulge me. This is a little bit long, because it's a little bit confusing if you don't live in the state of Texas, which is just a confusing place to live. So, I want to quickly explain how lawmaking works in Texas, my home state. First, this will be no surprise to anyone who knows a little bit about Texas politics. We are a staunchly GOP, Republican held state. So that means the state Senate, the state House are both controlled by the GOP, the governor is a Republican. And it’s a specific brand of extreme conservatism that spends a lot of time taking away resources from and criminalizing the most vulnerable citizens in our state. It's very hard to watch. Because there's a belief in small government, the Texas legislature actually only meets every other year to put up bills and pass them into law. So if your bill doesn't get through the regular session, as we call it here, too bad. You have to wait almost two more years to put it up again, right? Except, except, that the governor has the ability to call a special session, which they can do if they feel that there is an emergency legislative issue that needs to be handled, right? So think about, you know, funding after a natural disaster or something like that.
But, of course, our governors do it just because their bills didn't get passed in the regular session. And this is bad, in part because it's easier to pass bills during a special session, because the point of it is to move quickly during an emergency, right? So, stuff that was hard to pass in the GOP led Senate and House becomes easier even under special session. Okay. So, last week the legislature went into special. That's what we…We always talk about the special here. One of the items on the governor's agenda for this session is the horrific anti-transgender so-called “bathroom bill.” State Senator Lois Kolkhorst filed the bill SB3 last week, and it was approved by a Republican dominated Senate committee on Friday evening. And now it's heading to a full Senate for a vote.
Here's how the Human Rights campaign explains it. I know the HRC isn’t the best always on trans issues, but this is the best explanation that I could find. So, SB3 “mandates HB2 North Carolina-style anti-transgender discrimination in any multiple occupancy restroom or locker room in any property owned by a city, county, school district, state agency, or other political subdivision. Further, it would overturn LGBTQ inclusive non-discrimination ordinances, protecting millions of people across Texas in cities such as Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, and Fort Worth, insofar as those ordinances protect people from discrimination in bathrooms. It also prohibits these entities from forbidding discrimination in athletics on the basis of any characteristic not currently reflected in state law,” which is an obvious job, a transgender athletes in particular. I mean, this is just…I can't even explain how upsetting it is to just read that to you guys right now.
Chris Mosier, the first openly trans man to make a men's US national team when he qualified for the sprint duathlon team in 2015, and creator of a website called transathlete.com. If you don't know a lot about trans athletes, I really think you should check out transathlete.com. Chris had a great series of tweets about why this bill is bad. So I'm just going to quote him on this and you can go and read all of his tweets at @TheChrisMosier. So, “Transgender athletes are not a threat to the safety of others. We are people. We hate locker rooms as much as if not more than you. Denying transgender athletes access to the appropriate facilities that align with our identity prevents us from fully participating in sport. Denying trans people save access to restrooms is inhumane. It is unsafe for us to go to a restroom that does not align with how we identify. But let's be real here. Lois Kolkhorst isn't even thinking of sending a trans man with a beard into a women's locker room or ladies restroom. Truth is, Lois Kolkhorst is demonizing trans women. She's putting trans people's lives at risk by sending them to spaces they do not belong. The intent of Lois Kolkhorst is clear: to take trans people out of public life and make it more difficult for them to participate in sports. Sport is about community, not discrimination. We need greater acceptance and inclusion, not anti-transgender bills.”
So, those were parts of Chris's tweets about this. If you live in Texas, it's imperative that you call your state senators now and tell them to vote down SB3. On Twitter, follow the hashtag #YallMeansAll, which is just lovely. We need to burn this hateful bill to the ground. For all its ills, one thing I know about the state of Texas is there are people here who fight very hard to protect the vulnerable and to protect civil rights in the face of a ruling political party who does everything they can, including bending the rules, to go after them. So today I want to say we need to burn SB3.
Brenda: Oh, burn it.
Shireen: Burn it. Brenda?
Brenda: Okay. So, today I want to throw ESPN FC, their soccer site, onto the burn pile for their shitty, shitty coverage of women's soccer. There is literally no news mundane enough about the men's game that doesn't top anything coming out of women's soccer. They literally previewed the December matchups between Barcelona and Real Madrid yesterday. So that was the headlining. December. I’d just like to say it's July. They've also had a series of fake news transfer stories, like Neymar switching from Barcelona to PSG, then running an even faker story on what Barcelona's plans were for when Neymar took that decision, which has not been made. But no headline coverage of Euros, which is actually taking place, right now, this month. Not December. Again, literally no news mundane enough about the men's game. I understand you can find it on ESPNW, and I love ESPNW, but that doesn't give ESPN FC a pass to outsource women's soccer.
I should say that they're not alone. Actually, this week we saw a news story by The Daily Star penned by not one but two male journalists that was headlined, ‘The sexiest Wimbledon ever may be over, but fear not – the women's Euro 2017 is about to kick off, with teams boasting gorgeous footballers.’ [Jessica groans] [laughter] It took two men, two men to come up with that headline. I mean, maybe one did the first part, and the other did the second? [laughter] I'm not sure how that collaboration worked. Like, I'll pick all the sexiest footballers from Denmark, Iceland, France; you work on Germany, Italy, Russia? [laughter] I'm not sure how the labor was divided in terms of that. It's degrading. It's disgusting. It's really old. And I don't want to read one more thing, one more faker and fakier news about transfers until I get some Euro information. So I'd like to throw them onto the burn pile. ESPN, and Daily Star – if that can be counted as a journalistic site – you go on there too. Burn.
Jessica: Burn.
Shireen: Burn it. My burn for this week is actually an article that was written at the New York Times and sort of everything emanating from this. This piece was by Adam Bryant at the New York Times, and he interviewed Erika Nardini, who is the CEO of Barstool Sports. Now, some of our listeners may not be familiar with their trolling, their misogyny, and their racism and their horrible “sportswriting.” Now, this interview with Erika Nardini is problematic for many reasons. So, one of the things was that was really highlighted, she admits that she likes to text her staff on the weekends to late night to “test them.” So, she thinks about work so everybody should. So, this is the part of the interview that sort of really frustrated me, amongst everything else. And the quote is this from her: “I think bro-ish is a convenient stereotype. Barstool Sports as far more layered than that. Does a fraction of our content feature girls? Yes. Are those pieces I gravitate toward? No. But I'm not the editorial voice. I'm not the target audience. I respect that I'm neither of those things. I'm proud to work for a brand that knows itself and what its audience wants. It's a rare thing.”
Brenda: [laughs] Ew.
Shireen: And so when my brain stopped barfing, I was like, yeah, no, Barstool’s a site that thrives on misogyny and racism, and it's disgusting. And I think it's really important to remember that women can uphold systems of toxic patriarchy, and this is an example of that. And the fact that she's getting lauded for a CEO…Yes, we do want women to be financially independent and get it. Do they have to be at the helm of a site like this and say, well, you know, I'm not really responsible for the content? It doesn't work like this. So, I want to burn that to the ground
Jessica: Burn.
Brenda: Burn it.
Shireen: So let's move on to some happier news. Jess, you want to take us to the badass woman of the week?
Jessica: Absolutely. So, as we said before, our co-host Lindsay Gibbs is not on the podcast today because she is flying back from Seattle where she attended the WNBA All Star game and also went to last week’s Seattle Storm game against the Chicago Sky. That game was significant in the history of athlete activism, and is why we've chosen the Seattle Storm as our badass women of the week. Now I'm just going to quote the lede from a piece that Lindsay wrote at ThinkProgress about this. So just imagine that this is Lindsay's voice, okay? So, here goes. “35 minutes before the Chicago Sky took on the Seattle Storm at a nationally televised WNBA game on Tuesday night, 6’7” Sky center Imani Boyette wasn't on the court warming up, nor was she in the locker room with her teammates getting her game face on. Instead, she was the lone player on stage in front of hundreds of pink clad Storm fans at Key Arena Plaza listening to the Storm owners kick off a pregame rally in support of Planned Parenthood.
It takes something very significant for a pro athlete to disrupt their typical pregame routine. But for Boyette, the chance to be a part of the first official partnership between a pro sports team and Planned Parenthood was worth the detour. ‘I think Planned Parenthood is just so much more influential and helpful than the media likes to portray,’ Boyette told ThinkProgress before the rally. ‘I didn't have health insurance growing up, so Planned Parenthood was my OBGYN. It was my birth control. Anything and everything.’ Last month, the Storm’s all female ownership group made national headline when it announced a partnership with the reproductive healthcare provider, whose very existence has become a political lightning rod. $5 from every ticket sold to Tuesday night's game was donated to Planned Parenthood which, thanks to an attendance of 8,358 people, totaled $41,790. Further donations are pouring in as well from a raffle and online auction in a Seattle based app Vermouth, which is donating a dollar to Planned Parenthood for every app downloaded, up to 50,000.” So thank you, Lindsay, for this wonderful piece and for this coverage. And in case anyone's wondering, the Sky ended up beating the Storm 94-83. And keep on, Seattle Storm, badass women of the week. This is thrilling news.
Shireen: Awesome. Now, moving on to our honorable mentions, Brenda?
Brenda: My honorable mention for this week is Nadia Nadim, Denmark striker, who learned football in a refugee camp. She’s been around a long time, and so her story is not exclusive to this moment or new or anything like that, but every time she takes the pitch I think about it. After her father was executed, her family fled Afghanistan. And she said, “I really got the interest when I was in Denmark.” By the way, she's talking about football. “When I was in Denmark, in the refugee camp, because it was the only thing we had then. When I had a ball at my feet, I didn't really think about anything else. It's amazing and it helped me through a lot. It got me connected with Danish children. Perhaps it also helped me learn the language faster.” She plays for the Portland Thorns, but we're watching her right now in the Euros, and I just love her story and I think she's just such a super badass lady.
Shireen: I love Nadia, I interviewed her for a Buzzfeed piece, and she is delightful. She is also a med school student. A lot of people don't know this about her. She's incredible. And just one of the nicest people I've ever spoken to. She’s lovely. My honorable mention goes to…I’ve got two. There's so many amazing women in sport. This was just a recognition of the opening of the 2017 Women's Euro’s. There was 21,732 people at the match between the Netherlands and Norway. And I think that those women that brought out everybody, that are hyping the game, that are into the game…And we'll get more into Euros in a future episode. But I just wanted to mention that because I think it's really important for people who say that, oh, women don't draw people. They absolutely do. So props to those teams, props to the women who are amplifying the game and elevating the game.
I also wanted to, along that note, recognize Niamh O’Donoghue, who is the first woman on Ireland's Football Association board. So, for the longest time, there had actually not been a woman sitting on the board. So just recognition to her and to the Ireland FA for having somebody on there. Yeah, and I lied. I actually have one more. I have three. The last one I just wanted to mention quickly was kind of a crush of mine. Claressa Shields won at the Nickelodeon kid's choice sports award, she won for biggest powerhouse. Now, this is an award that's voted on by youth. And the fact that she won is because she inspires kids. And I think that's amazing. And I love Claressa Shields so much. Moving on to an event that we're looking forward to. Brenda?
Brenda: I'm looking forward to today. We are we're recording now Sunday, and Spain is going to play England in the Euros, and I'm super psyched. The last time they met in Euros, it was 2013 and Spain beat England 3-2. But after watching England thrash Scotland last week 6-0, I think they look in great shape. And I'm really excited to see what's going to happen.
Shireen: Jessica.
Jessica: Yeah. After this weekend's WNBA All Star game, which was really fun to watch, the league begins the second half of the season this week. There is a packed schedule of games on Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday this upcoming week. And so I'm excited about the Seattle Storm visiting the reigning champions LA Sparks on Tuesday night, and I'm also looking forward to the Minnesota Lynx visit to the Atlanta Dream on Friday.
Shireen: Awesome. I am gonna jump off of this podcast recording and go right into watching the cricket final. [laughs] And then when that's over, I will get into watching the Euros. Looking forward to France trying to keep his head above water this week after a tie last night with Austria. So, it'll be really interesting to see what happens. Great week for women in sports.
So, that’s it for this week in Burn It All Down. Today's show was edited and mixed by the amazing Ellie Gordon-Moershel. And you can find more of Ellie's awesome work at elliegm.com. Burn It All Down lives on SoundCloud, but can be found on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, and TuneIn. We appreciate your reviews and feedback, so please subscribe, rate us, to let us know what we did well and how it can improve. You can find us on Facebook at Burn It All Down, on Twitter @BurnItAllDownPod, and you can email us at burnitalldownpod@gmail.com. You can also check out our website, burnitalldownpod.com, where you can find a link to our GoFundMe campaign. We would appreciate any consideration for contributions so that we can keep doing the work we love to do and keep burning what needs to be burned. On behalf of Jessica and Brenda, I'm Shireen Ahmed, and thank you for joining us this week.