Episode 229: Should We Even Have Sports on Holidays?
In this episode, Shireen Ahmed, Lindsay Gibbs and Brenda Elsey discuss sports played on holidays. But first they start with a question of superpowers. Then, they dive into the topic of sports on holidays, tackling questions such as: What is the labor history of sports on holidays? Is it fair to athletes and their families? Should we just cancel sports on holidays?
Following the main discussion, you'll hear a preview of Shireen's interview with Asher Hill, figure skating coach and choreographer. Next, they set aflame all the worst of sports this week in The Burn Pile. Then, they celebrate those making sports better, including Torchbearers of the Week the Mexican Women's National Football Team. They wrap up the show with what's good in their lives and what they are watching in sports this week.
This episode was produced by Tressa Versteeg. Shelby Weldon is our social media and website specialist. Burn It All Down is part of the Blue Wire podcast network.
Transcript
Shireen: Welcome to Burn It All Down, the feminist sports podcast you need. I'm Shireen, and I am joined by Lindsay and Brenda this week. This week on the show, we are going to talk about sports and holidays. Should we have them? Do we need them? But before we get into that, I have a question for you both. If you could have a superpower, would you want to A) know what people are thinking, or B) be able to communicate with plants and animals?
Brenda: B! B.
Shireen: Tell me why, Brenda.
Brenda: Oh, there are so many things. First, people tell you what they want you to know about what they think, and whatever they think that they don't tell you is probably scary and harmful and I don't want to know. That would probably…How could I get anything done? I'd just be walking around picking up people's thinking vibes. But, oh my gosh, if I could ask the cat, “Do you want the eye ointment or the eye drops?” that would preclude a ton of moral conundrums for me that take up so much time. Plus, oh my gosh. Do you know what you could ask plants about people lying? About crimes? [Shireen laughs] I mean, assuming that plants are good plants. My teenagers…I’d be like, I'd ask my house plants, when did she really get in last night? Between you and me?
Shireen: So, you’re going to use your plants to police your children? [laughs]
Brenda: Yes, yes, totally. [laughter]
Shireen: Well, Lindsay, Lindsay, what about you?
Lindsay: My first reaction is I would do anything to never, ever have to know what people are thinking. [Shireen laughs] Like, I have enough neuroses as is. I do not need to know what everyone is thinking. I would never be able to do anything, ever, like Brenda said, ever, ever again. That is the worst case scenario. Worst nightmare. There was recently that, like, what was that, that New York Times Bad Art Friend piece a couple of months ago, where it was like the group texts that got leaked? And I was like, I would pay all the money I have to never, ever read any group texts about me. Like, I don't want to know. Can you just imagine? Oh my god. So, I don't even need the…Like, the plant and animal thing is cool. That's great. But like, just no, I just do not want to be able to read thoughts. No.
Shireen: So, for me initially, I was like, I want to know what people think! I'm curious. But then I was like, no, it would not help my anxiety. But the flip side is I immediately thought, to have Tara articulate why she thinks I'm so dumb consistently…I don't know if I want that, because I already can feel her disdain. Do I really want her to spell it out for me? [Brenda laughs] So, I mean, part of it is like, I do feel like sometimes I don't get her meows and that, you know, I need to be more attentive, because I misunderstand. But I still want my superpower to be able to speak any language. That would be fine for me. I don't want to know what people are thinking. I agree.
Brenda: Yeah. Speaking any language would be pretty great because now that I'm like thinking this through, then like, can I garden anymore? Or is the kale going to be like, no! Don't harvest me! [Shireen laughs] Am I just not even going to be able to eat?
Shireen: I feel like we'd be able to turn this off and on, like it wouldn’t always be on.
Brenda: Okay. Okay. All right then, I’m onboard.
Shireen: Since time immemorial – the mid 20th century, rather – we always remember our holidays full of food, family, and professional sports. Yes, folks. Our holidays are as much Roger Goodell as they are Father Christmas. Now, there are some great moments in holiday games: December 25th, 2002, I actually remember watching Tracy McGrady get 46 points with the Orlando Magic in a 104-99 Magic win against the Pistons. But don't we all remember the epic comeback by the Cavs against the Warriors on Christmas Day 2016? When Cleveland were down 14 points, but beat Golden State with Kyrie Irving making a turnaround jumper with 3.4 seconds left to ruin KD’s 36 point effort for the Warriors? LeBron walked away with 31 points and 13 rebounds. So, LeBron is actually the real Santa Claus. They all gave us the best Christmas ever.
So, some of the usual programming that we know on holidays is NFL on the American Thanksgiving, which is November, because the Canadian long weekend is in October. There’s NBA on Christmas, Premier League football on New Year’s Eve, and of course the Winter Classic, an NHL tradition that started on and around New Year’s Day in 2008. So, what does that mean for the players? What is the implication for their families? Do we even want sports on holidays? Holidays are a marketing fiesta, and one particular 2020 ad for Sky Sports boasts over 60 games between December 1st and January 4th. So, we're actually going to get into the weeds of sports on holidays, and we aren't going to go Grinch on you with today's discussion. Brenda?
Brenda: My favorite sports holiday tradition is the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, if it's a spectator question. If it's a question about my own personal experience, I like a turkey trot myself, you know, these run/walks that…Shireen is giving me a face right now. You can't see that. We're recording with video. But she seems to think this is outrageous.
Shireen: Turkey trots!?
Brenda: You don't trot the turkeys. It's just about being on Thanksgiving and getting out. I don't know. I hate…I am sorry. I hate laying around all day with my family. I'm sorry, family. I like trotting – with them! You know what I mean? I like being with them doing something, you know? But anyway, one other way to avoid my terrible uncle was to watch the Lions. And I think it's a really good case study of just thinking about sports and what they might mean to people on holidays. And it's really interesting, because it's political. So, you know, the Lions started playing on Thanksgiving in 1934, and it was after the Depression, not a lot of disposable income, and the owner George Richards at the time did it as a gimmick to get people to go to the games. People were off on that Thursday, there was no church, and it was very popular with working class fans.
So, eventually they had to turn people away. But ultimately the Lions are a marvel of terribleness, and a real symbol of the failure of 20th century industrials in Detroit, the Ford family. So, the Fords are pioneers in sportswashing. They bought the team at the same time in 1963 that they obstructed building public transportation in Detroit, that they attacked unions – including hiring henchmen to brutally attack union organizers, even for passing out information; denying African-Americans car dealerships. I mean, the list goes on and on. And they still control it! Right now it's Sheila Ford Hamp who's at the helm.
And so anyway, they just suck so bad, and the family sucks so bad that it feels comforting that we all still watch this. Like, we're all still sort of…You know, I don't know that we even care that they lose, because we're like great, the Ford family loses! Except for the players, right? Barry Sanders had to stay with the Lions all those years. I mean, it's pretty tragic. Stafford, I think we all felt pretty bad for. But there's something hilarious about them finding new ways to lose every year. So, this year was hilarious, you guys! I don't think you watched it, right? Probably not. Did anybody watch this?
Lindsay: I mean…
Brenda: Linz, did you watch it?
Lindsay: Just the…I went back, like, I was following on Twitter, and then I kind of went back and watched, so I know what you're talking about. AndI loved reading about it. It was so much fun.
Brenda: I mean, so the entire game, the Lions are just like holding on to Bears jerseys. Like, that's all they're doing. [laughs] They're just grabbing. So, a holding penalty here, holding penalty there. Then when it looks like they're still going to eke out a run, the coach calls back to back timeouts with no play in between, which is like a five yard penalty, which was just nail in the coffin type of thing. And like all of Detroit just roared with laughter. Like, people weren't even upset. It was just like Twitter, Facebook, like, oh my god, this is the most creative team at losing in the entire world. And sometimes it's just like warm and cozy. to see history repeating itself.
So, I don't know. It's one of my favorite traditions. It's got a lot of contradictions. But it's one of the things where I go and check what my high school friends are saying on social media, because the minute that penalty call happened, I was like, oh my gosh, this is going to be hilarious. And you know, I'm going to see everybody and their families doing their things. But also just grr! So anyway, that's my favorite.
Shireen: So what was the accessibility for the fans to go to these games back in the day? And I'm asking you to put on your professorial hat here.
Brenda: So, essentially a lot of the holiday games were ones in which there would be giveaways, you know, the Fords tried to do it for workers and that made it a lot more accessible. Nowadays, I don't know many people that can afford to go, because it's a bit…Or would spend that amount of money, you know, who aren't total diehard fans. And we do know the outcome in advance, so it makes it less attractive for a lot of people. I don't think the Lions have won a game in many, many moons.
Shireen: I think that the idea of making it accessible to working class families is great. But then we get down into the question: is this actually fair to athletes in their families? Linz, what do you feel here?
Lindsay: I mean, I am very…When I think about people who I feel sorry for who have to work on holidays, like, well-compensate athletes is not even on my list, do you know what I mean? [laughter] And this isn't me being all like “athletes aren't humans.” No, it's just like, there's so many people who have to work on holidays and so their family has to, you know, adjust their holiday a little bit accordingly. And that just is what it is. So my opinion, as long as athletes are being compensated fairly, you know…I don't really love the Thanksgiving games for like men's and women's college basketball that are, you know, these Thanksgiving tournaments that take these young students away from their families. Like, I don't love that, as much as I love these tournaments, but I don't love that part of it.
But yeah, sure. It's not ideal to not be with your family on Christmas or Thanksgiving. But, like I said, I mean, my mom's in a nursing home and they had a full staff the day of Thanksgiving, when I went to pick her up. And then of course, I think if there's any argument against athletes playing, it would be the fact that this entire ecosystem around them has to also go to work, right? All the stadium workers, all the media people – not to be like woe is me, you know what I mean? But just the fact that there are a lot of other people around them. But I mean, look, I know we talk a lot about how like athletes are humans and athletes are not just entertainers, and I believe that. I believe that fully, right? Yes, yes, yes.
But also, sports are entertainment. Do you know what I mean? And so I think it makes sense to have sports on days where people have time, right? Where people are home during the days. I think it's very special, like if you look at the NBA, which has the Christmas day games. Those are a big deal, and they're always nationally broadcast. So, yeah, I can get if you're LeBron, you get a little sick of it, right? Because since you're a big deal, you're scheduled every single year. But I'm sorry, you're also LeBron! [laughs] You can figure out some alternatives.
So, I did find out there are some sports that have…Like the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement forbids playing games on Christmas eve, Christmas day or Boxing Day. So the players decided to collectively bargain that, and I'm all for that, right? If the players want to collectively bargain that, don't get me wrong. Very, very pro that. But I also found out that NBA doesn't schedule any games on Christmas eve, period. So there's zero games on Christmas eve. I don't know. For me, I like it. I love having sports on the holidays. I think it's fun. It's something to talk about. And ultimately it's great exposure for the sports.
Shireen: So, I'll push back a little here. I was doing some reading and I found an ESPN piece from 2015 where LeBron says, “I won't be with my family on Christmas, unfortunately. So no, we have no traditions. If I can get a home game on Christmas, then we'll have a tradition.” And that made me sad for LeBron. I know he has bazillions of dollars, but like the idea of not being with family on that particular holiday…And sure, I know people who travel or who work abroad and they're like, you know, we'll do a Christmas. Even me, I want to do a Christmas dinner with my best friend, Eren, but because my son had COVID last year, I was quarantining during that time so we had to push back roasting the duck until January. We still made it festive, but it's really not…It wasn't the same thing, you know what I mean? And I'm someone who doesn't actually observe this holiday.
And I think about, as Linz said, the stadium workers, the band, the cheerleaders, the team staff, the media, security, everybody involved in this and that ecosystem. And there's so many other pieces. Now, question – and Brenda, you might know this – do they get time and a half for the holidays? Or it would depend? Because if you get overtime or, you know, in some places they pay extra, because then that way, if they're compensated and remunerated in a very good way, it could be a strong case for that.
Brenda: They could be. I really…It depends on the contract, right? It depends. Some people get holiday pay. Some don’t.
Lindsay: I don't think the athletes get time and a half. They have their contracts. We're not talking about that.
Shireen: Media certainly does not! [laughs]
Lindsay: Media doesn’t, because that's not usually how that's working. But I would assume that all the stadium workers, if you have a day rate. Like, I know in the film and television industry, when I had to work on Thanksgiving…I was a production assistant and, you know, it was just automatically time and a half.
Brenda: There's just no law though. It's your contract. It'd be great if there is like a law, but the labor standards act means it's all negotiated according to contract. For example, you know, professors are always grading. I'm always working on Christmas, always. And unless your contract stipulates it, you're just kind of stuck. So, some of those union busting states, and maybe this goes back to the Fords as the ultimate union holdouts and attacks on unions, I would be so surprised if they just got time and a half without that union effort, you know? I wish they did. But that's a good point. Look what comes up in our holiday chats here.
Shireen: I know. We all thought this would be basic. It's not basic. This is amazing. So, Lindsay mentioned this, the idea that sports are entertainment. Tell me a little bit about what you're thinking about this and how this plays into the theater in holiday time.
Lindsay: People love going to the movies on holidays. Movie theaters are open, Broadway's open, you know what I mean? It's a time for entertainment because the majority of people have that time off and they're looking for, you know, entertainment. So, I don't know. I mean, I don't think it's controversial to say sports are entertainment. I do think it's wrong to stop the conversation there, right? But I think if you lose track that sports are entertainment, like, I think you're missing the big point, right? [laughs] You've missed the whole point.
Shireen: And what about women here? We're pivoting to entertainment and women's sport.
Lindsay: You know, I think ultimately the NFL on Thanksgiving and the NBA on Christmas day, these are big traditions. It gets a lot of eyeballs to their sport, which ultimately helps gain fans. You know what I mean? I think the first time I really got to sit down and watch Steph Curry and the Warriors and really fall in love with his game was a Christmas day game. I mean, it's not hard to be a Steph Curry fan, but you know what I mean? Like, exposure is ultimately good, right? That brings in fans. And so I think women's sports should take a little bit more advantage of finding ways to...Especially because with the WNBA and stuff, they're happening during the summer when you usually don't have the NBA and you don't have the NFL.
And maybe…I don't know, maybe July 4th is WNBA day, or Memorial Day or something like that. Do what I mean? Maybe they take advantage of a day and really do scheduling around the holiday and kind of try to start some traditions of their own. Yes, I understand that for players it's different, but like I said, ultimately growing the game is good for everyone. And as long as they are being compensated, I think it's smart for sports to find ways to be watched. There's actually like a lot of times tennis tournaments are held around holidays. So, the French Open is usually around Memorial Day, US Open’s around Labor Day. It's the summer, Australian summer, there's like a big Australian day celebration during the Australian Open. And so ultimately this is good because a lot of people have time off during those times and they can come watch the sport that's taking place during the day.
So there's actually been a lot of controversy with Wimbledon because Wimbledon has traditionally had an off Sunday, a middle Sunday, where there's no play. And there's been a lot of outrage because it's like, that's very anti-working class, right? Like, yes, it's good to give everybody a break. I know media people love it and players love it. But ultimately, that's a day where a lot of people don't have to work where you're saying you can only come to our tournament, basically, if you can get time off during the weekday, which we know is not accessible to everyone. So like I said, I mean, I'm big on utilizing times where more people are free and able to watch your sport and playing then, because you are ultimately competing for those entertainment eyeballs. And that’s just the reality of it.
Shireen: Yeah. I love this idea about the July 4th for the WNBA. I think that is actually a fantastic idea. And just on that point, this got me thinking about the traditional holidays that we talk about are, you know, rooted in Christian traditions and settler traditions. So, what about faiths and other faith holidays? And Brenda, could you explain the history of Jewish athletes, or if there's any case examples of that?
Brenda: Yeah. I mean, for the most part, the majority of Jewish professional athletes are non-observant. So it doesn't come up as often, maybe as, you know, Ramadan. I don't know. That would be an interesting question. The most famous holiday or the most observed is Yom Kippur, which usually comes September/October. It's the day of atonement, the day when God's deciding one's fate. So you're supposed to make amends and ask for forgiveness, and it's a pretty busy day for some. And that's been the one that Jewish athletes have struggled the most with being asked to play. And there's the famous case of Sandy Koufax in 1965 at the World Series between Minnesota and the Dodgers. Koufax did not start game one pitching because it fell on Yom Kippur. And at that time that was kind of a big controversy. He went on to be the series MVP. So, cry, cry, cry. But it is hard, Yom Kippur, you know, that's the wrap up of Major League Baseball, you know, it's playoff time. There is an exception to that, which is Israeli athletes, who are very often faced with this in international play, that high holidays will fall. And there's been a lot of different case studies in terms of that.
Shireen: Yeah, thanks for that. And I mean, I was looking back into the ways in which Islamic calendar holidays fall into…And for those that don't know, the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar. It doesn't follow the Gregorian calendar, and it actually goes back every 10 days. So, Ramadan, if you see me wishing people Eid Mubarak, which is the festival at the end of Ramadan, and it's not consistent. It's because it goes back 10 days every year. So, one of the things is the month of Ramadan, which is 30 days, often has fallen within the World Cup in the last five, six years. The Olympics have fallen during that time. Other tournaments have fallen during that time. But the difference here is that Ramadan is the month where you fast during the days, during sunlight hours.
There are a lot of ways in which people can still participate in their sport. In fact, you're encouraged to continue working during Ramadan and not just like wake up before the sun rises and go back to sleep until like 2pm, which is what many of us actually do do. In fact, famously Hakeem Olajuwon played through, with the Houston Rockets, played through and won a championship, an NBA championship, while he was fasting. And every World Cup, the last couple, people have been like, oh my goodness, there's this big furor about, “Will Mo Salah do well?” And what about the Algerian team? You know, Riyad Mahrez. And what about Sadio Mané? And what about all the Muslim players and what's going to happen to the World Cup if they're fascinating?
Okay. Well, let me explain something. And I went through to find a bunch of articles on Ramadan and fasting and what that means – and actually I wrote most of them. [laughs] So, one of the things was, I had interviewed for Buzzfeed a couple of years ago 15 athletes – one of whom is Nadia Nadim, who I love – and the different ways in which they observed. But I also want to add this caveat. There’s exceptions for fasting. If you're traveling, you don't have to fast, because you're in travel. And there's a lot of exceptions and accommodations made for that. You have to make up for it later, but some choose may choose not to, because most athletes that are Muslim or live in Muslim majority countries travel for summer or for the World Cup. Like, most of them do.
And at the end of Eid – there's one Eid at the end of Ramadan and then another Eid a couple months later – you go for prayers, which are not mandatory. They’re considered a gift, and if you can participate, that's amazing. And if you can't, you go to work, you do what you have to do and you celebrate later. So it doesn't actually infringe with this. I mean, most people do like to celebrate with their families and their communities on Eid. And I say that, but I mean, you know, if someone had told me to go to like Nou Camp on Eid, I'd go. A hundred percent I'd go, especially to see Xavi. So that's just like a little bit of a rundown. Yeah, I went there, Brenda. Xavi’s back. So, should we cancel sports on major holidays? Lindsay.
Lindsay: No! But I am pro making sure that all stadium workers and contract workers are paid time and a half. That would be my only caveat. But no, I love sports on holidays. Keep them.
Shireen: Bren?
Brenda: Keep them, more of them. Give me more sports. Just saying, this is going to come up again, because next Thanksgiving we will be watching the World Cup in Qatar.
Shireen: Oh, wow. Yeah. I mean, I'm going to go against the grain here, and just be like, I want LeBron to have family traditions! [Brenda laughs] I want him to have Christmas memories. I want him to have that. [laughter] Lindsay’s face right now…“He can cry into his bags of money.” [laughs]
Lindsay: And it’s not even that! It's just…I know he has that quote, but I guarantee you he has Christmas traditions with his family. They might not all happen on the 25th, but 100% LeBron has holiday traditions with his family. [Shireen laughs] I bet if I go to Instagram right now, I will find some matching pajamas somewhere on there. [laughter]
Shireen: So, maybe some sports days should be holidays? Let's flip this just to wrap up. I think that may be the Women's World Cup final should be a holiday for everybody. The WNBA final, I think that should be a holiday, actually. Everybody get prepped and ready. I mean, people should actually think about this. And lastly, Halloween games should be in full costume.
Lindsay: At least the walk-ins! At least the walk-ins.
Brenda: Agree, hard agree.
Lindsay: I don't want to think about…The athletes might not be able to, but the coaches, like, if you're not actually playing, yes, you should be in costume – and you should be in costume all the time when you're not…Like, the warmups, you know what I mean, that they put on on the sidelines should have like bunny ears or something. Do you know what I mean? Like, let's just go all out.
Brenda: At least ears. Come on. At least give yourself some ears.
Shireen: This week for our interview that drops on Thursday, I speak with Asher Hill, Canadian figure skating coach and choreographer, also with That Figure Skating Show that airs on CBC. We'll talk the upcoming Olympics and racially diversifying the sport.
Asher Hill: Just feeling the joy of skating again and remembering why I love it – it’s freedom of movement. It's creating stories. It's that human connection that you can create through this weird judge sport by creating images and pictures on the ice with your body. And then as well as, you know, I got to be on national TV, speaking about issues that often in Canada we don't like to talk about, because we are the…“Cordial racism” is I guess a good term for it. [laughs]
Shireen: Moving on to everyone's favorite segment, the burn pile. For my burn, I actually wanted to bring a little bit of a Canadian sport media history into this with the Lou Marsh Trophy. For those of you that don't actually know who Lou Marsh is, in the 20th century he worked at the sports desk and was largely the only sports reporter at the Toronto Star for over 43 years, as a result of that…And Lou Marsh's journalistic processes are actually still taught in many sports media and sports journalism programs. Now, the problem with Lou Marsh? Ooh, it's bad. Our very own flamethrower, friend of the show, Dr. Janice Forsyth, who was on episode 167, wrote an article last February about the racist history of Lou Marsh and how his language is anti-Black, anti-Indigenous, and he still continues to be heralded as one of the country's foremost sports journalists.
And so, Lou Marsh, the Lou Marsh Trophy, is voted on by Canadian sports media members to the highest achieving Canadian athlete for that year. So, this had come out last year, and just recently TSN’s Gord Miller, a hockey insider, started a tweet thread about it, also citing Dr. Forsyth's work. And this is really important because someone with this kind of platform sharing this information…And to be very honest, before Janice flagged this last year, I didn't even know. I had no idea the racist history in terms of incredibly horrible language and the way he was unapologetic, antisemitic as well. Particularly when Canada…Canada wanted to boycott the Olympics, and he spoke against that and said it was literally, according to Lou Marsh, “the Nazi issue,” quote unquote, “was an internal German political problem that Canada shouldn't have an opinion on.” And that was early, it was in ’36. And this is something that he stood behind for the remainder of his career.
So, this is not something that should be used and that name to cheer and amplify and elevate Canadian athletes. Absolutely not. And I want to thank Dr. Janice Forsyth for her work, always. And on which, you know, the Toronto Star recently said that they were doing research into it, researching whether they were going to change the name. Hopefully it does lead to a name change. But I want to take those institutions and systems of racism that are still upheld, and I want to take them and I want to torch them and burn it all down. Burn.
All: Burn.
Shireen: Bren, next.
Brenda: I have a petty burn that's maybe as controversial as my support for VAR. But recently CONMEBOL, the South American confederation, decided to do away with the away goal rule, following UEFA's decision to get away from the away goal rule. And for those of you that don't know, that means that let's say a two leg series, like the Champions League playoffs, right? You used to get more credit in the end if you were tied for an away goal that you scored. Do you get what I'm saying here? Basically, [laughs] you need a whole series called Ted Lasso to begin to explain some of this stuff. So I'm trying to not be belittling, but say it's weird. You know, we don't have that in US sports.
But that is a longstanding tradition in CONMEBOL, or at least since the, I don't know, 1960s. And following UEFA, they've now taken that away. And I don't like it at all. I would say I'm in the minority here, but this is why. What it says to me…Their logic is, away goals, that there's not a big difference. It's not that hard to score a goal when you're away. And I think that's some bullshit to the fans who try to make it very hard for visiting teams to score. I think it's opening the pass for less interest in holding tournaments in the domestic stadiums where they should be, and instead saying, oh, let's go have it in Paris or Monaco, or I don't know, wherever the hell they're going to have it – instead of having to have it at the home stadium, sometimes of regional and less visited places.
So, I'm annoyed. I don't think there's any good reason. I've listened to them, and it just sounds to me like CONMEBOL's getting pressured by UEFA to do this, to make the Copa Libertadores, the club championship, look more like the Champions League. One more time: it annoys me, and I'm annoyed. So I would like to burn the hyper-capitalization, once again, of this tournament, which is very cool. The final will be played today between Palmeiras and Flamengo. Everybody should watch it, or record it on Fubo and watch it later. So, burn.
All: Burn.
Shireen: Linz, can you wrap us up please?
Lindsay: Yeah. So, last Monday we had another report of abusive coaching in the National Women's Soccer League. This report came less than two days after the final where the Washington Spirit beat the Chicago Red Stars. Early, early Monday morning/late Sunday night, the Red Stars announced in a cryptic email that Rory Dames had resigned. I think everyone’s Spidey senses immediately lept into gear, and that Monday afternoon Molly Hensley-Clancy, who's just done such great work at the Washington Post, reported that for years players have been reporting abuse by Rory Dames and the Chicago Red Stars, and yet nothing was done. Not by the Red Stars ownership, who did know about one of the investigations, and not by US Soccer, who this was specifically reported to, as far back as 2014.
Christen Press was the biggest name who came forward on the record in this. She used to play for the Red Stars. She said, “I was terrified of what Rory would do and say if he found out this was something I said.” That was about Press's decision to go to US Soccer officials about this in 2014. Press continued, “And then I was made to feel by US Soccer that I was in the wrong, that there was nothing to report, and that this was acceptable. For so many women in this league, you think you don't have any worth. And if you stand up and you say what you think is right or wrong, nobody cares.”
So, not only did Christen Press bring this up to officials in 2014, she filed an official complaint in 2018 to US Soccer. And this is after she had requested a trade, which that trade led to…She was left off of a US national team, because she wouldn't play for the Houston Dash. Anyway, she received a lot of career retribution, and now it's believed that the people doing that career retribution knew about her reason for leaving the Red Stars and knew about her complaints about Rory Dames.
So, I would just like to burn Rory Dames, of course, and all of his enablers, and particularly US Soccer officials. And I'm gonna include former head coach Jill Ellis, who is now with San Diego in this. I think her role in this needs to be specifically examined. But for not fully investigating these claims, not taking them seriously, punishing players for speaking up, and allowing this abuse to continue for years and years and years. The reckoning in the NWSL, it’s only just beginning. I think it's clear that there's a lot more weeding out to do. It's a painful process, but it's very necessary. So, to US Soccer, to Rory Dames, to the Red Star owner, burn, burn, burn.
All: Burn.
Shireen: After all that burning, we want to raise some amazing people for torchbearers of the week. Lindsay, who is our bright light down under?
Lindsay: That was the crowd at the Matildas game. There were 36,109 fans to watch the Matildas take on the USA, which beat a record set in 2000. USA won the match 3-0, but great to see that crowd support as we're getting closer to that World Cup.
Shireen: Our high rising flame this week: congrats to Alison Désir, friend of the show, named by Women's Running as a power woman of 2021. We love you Alison. And check out our conversation with Alison in episode 158 and interview 172. Brenda, who was our lightning rod?
Brenda: Congrats to Kali “KO Mequinonoag” Reis of the Seaconke Wampanoag tribe in Providence, Rhode Island, who defended her World Boxing Association super lightweight title. She is boxing's first Native American world champion.
Shireen: Our feisty spark is Zaila Avant-garde. She is the 2021 Sports Illustrated sports kid of the year. We remember this amazing young woman winning the Scripps national spelling bee in 2021, and also being a basketball star. Lindsay, where some more of the good lights?
Lindsay: Yeah. Another big viewership record was set. The Washington Spirit, when they beat the Red Stars, the game was on CBS for the NWSL championship. They averaged 525,000 viewers, which was up 216% from the NWSL championship game in 2019. There was up to 571,000 tuning in for the final half hour. Just incredible. Hey, if you put it on TV, if you make it accessible, guess what happens? Guess what happens? [laughter]
Shireen: Can I get a drumroll, please?
[drumroll]
The torchbearer of the week is the Mexican women's national soccer team, who beat the reigning Olympic champions, team Canada, in the first match out of two in the CONCACAF division. Congratulations to Tricolor Femenil, and, you know, can't wait to see more from this incredible team. Lindsay, tell me what’s good.
Lindsay: Well, you know, after not being able to do holiday traditions last year, because the pandemic, thanks to vaccines, vaccines are what's good I guess, because I was able to gather with my family for Thanksgiving and do one half of Thanksgiving with my mom's family and then the other half of the day with my dad's family. Ate so, so much. And it was just wonderful. It was great to see my cousins. They’ve had a lot of pandemic babies, a lot of pandemic babies, and got to see all of them. And it was a beautiful day here in North Carolina. So, that was just wonderful. I had really missed the big family gatherings for holidays. I had really missed that.
And also, you know, I went on this trip to Sonoma, to wine country, a few weeks ago, as you guys heard about, and all of my shipments of wine had been coming in, [Shireen laughs] so I have so much good wine, and it's a real test for me to not just have like a bottle a night, honestly. [laughing] It’s really easy to go through a bottle if you just have, you know, if you start early, just like have a glass at a time, you know? But it's good. It is delicious. So, come on over. If anyone wants to come on over, I got a glass for you.
Shireen: Lindsay, what's your favorite wine?
Lindsay: Oh, I don't have a good answer for that. My big answer is just dry wines. I love dry whether it's red or it's white. I love it. Actually, one of my favorites I haven't tasted yet since it got in, and it just got in yesterday, but there's a sparkling red that one of the vineyards did, and I'm really excited to pop that out, because what feels more Christmassy than a sparkling red wine? Hello?
Shireen: Man, that's exciting. Brenda?
Brenda: We weren't going to get through the show without a mention of Formiga right? [laughter] Nobody thought that. Nobody actually thought that. Her last game, she bid adieu to the Brazilian national women's team this past week in Manaus at a friendly, came on in the 78th minute. But the cute story, and you can find it on Twitter, is that her mom has a real phobia about flying. I share that with her. So, Dona Celeste had actually never seen Formiga play live because she's always played in France, you know, had to do her professional career abroad. And so she flew to Manaus and it was really touching, and they were hugging, and it was just a very heartwarming story. So, if you're feeling down on the world, you can look it up.
I also am very grateful for having vaccines and tests. And we had a gathering – it wasn't huge, but a nice Thanksgiving, and yeah. So that was really nice, all of those things. And I did get a little turkey trot in.
Shireen: I love that. You’re so cute, Brenda. I haven't been on the show in a couple of weeks, because I was busy doing all kinds of things and one of them was–
Lindsay: Graduating!
Brenda: Graduating! [Shireen laughs]
Lindsay: Wooo!
Shireen: It was beautiful. One of my friends called it my Oscar week, [Lindsay laughs] and I really truly felt it. I had a prom with my class who I love, and my cohort husband Winston, and we went and it was lovely. And some of my classmates I actually never met in person before because my program was online. So we actually went for dinner at this beautiful restaurant. We went to a dive bar in Koreatown and did karaoke, and then we ended up in The Village and Toronto went to a drag show, which was pretty amazing.
Brenda: What did you karaoke? The people want to know.
Shireen: Oh god, you know me. I did Beauty and the Beat by Justin Bieber. Of course I did.
Brenda: Amazing.
Shireen: Okay. One thing did happen that made me feel a little weird. I wanted to close the show Alone with Heart, and my classmates were like, who? And I was like, that was the only time the entire year that I felt really old. [Brenda laughs] I’m like, how do you not know Ann and Nancy Wilson are? How do you not know that?! Did nobody watch Glee? Like, Kristin Chenoweth sang it with what's his name? Will Schuster. Anyways, why am I going down this? So that was amazing. And then I came home on the day of my convocation, which was online. And I bought my Nespresso advent calendar that I'm so excited about. I've never had an adult advent calendar. I've never had one as a child, but this I'm like, listen, I don't celebrate Christmas, but advent calendars will connect all of humanity. I believe in this.
The last thing I would be remiss if I didn't mention: Justin Beaver. Justin Beaver is my first holiday decor. He is a light up beaver. And what I love about this is that he's adorable and it’s Canadian and I can keep him outside til like April when winter is over, or like May sometimes. And he's got his little plaid scarf on, and I just love him. And what's even better is that for those of you that don't know, the word Bieber is actually Biber in German. That's what beaver means. So actually his name makes sense. It's Justin Beaver. So you're welcome for the German lesson and this joy. What are we watching this week? We were watching the NBA and all the things we talked about coming in the holiday season – Champs League football, men and women; NCAA Div I soccer, the semifinals are on the 3rd of December, and the finals on the 5th of December. We were also watching the NFL.
Brenda: Kind of. [laughs]
Shireen: Kind of. This episode was produced by Tressa Versteeg. Shelby Weldon is our web and social media wizard. Burn It All Down is a part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Follow Burn It All Down on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Listen and subscribe and rate the show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play and TuneIn. For show links and transcripts, check out our website, burnitalldownpod.com. You'll also find a link to our merch at our Bonfire store. And thank you, thank you, thank you to our patrons. Your support means the world. If you do want to become a sustaining donor to our show, visit patreon.com/burnitalldown. We could not do it without you. It helps us to keep doing what we love and burning what needs to be burned. And as Brenda always says, burn on and not out.