Episode 259: Record Breaking Ticket Sales and Another Fired Coach: An Update on Women's Soccer in the U.S.
In this episode, Brenda Elsey and Lindsay Gibbs talk about the latest news from the NWSL and USWNT. But first, they share their reactions to Serena William's first round US Open win.
Then, they delve into the most recent controversies and celebrations in women's soccer in the US. They start with the controversies, including criticism over Vlatko Andonovksi USWNT call-ups, the firing of Kris Ward from head coach of the Washington Spirit, and the NWSL Player's Unions filing a grievance over some players' eligibility for free agency. In celebrations, they talk about the record breaking ticket sales for the San Diego Wave vs. Angel City FC match on September 17, exciting developments in new stadiums and the first primetime television deal for the NWSL Championship on October 29.
Following this discussion, they preview a special Patreon segment about the WNBA playoffs.
Then, you'll here a preview of this week's interview with Ana Jurka, a Telemundo Deportes television host, who will be one of the commentators for the network's Men's World Cup coverage in Qatar.
Next, they burn some of the worst in sports this summer on the Burn Pile. Then, they celebrate those shining light, including Torchbearer of the Week, the Spanish National Women’s U20 team, who defeated Japan 3-1 to win the U20 World Cup.
They wrap up the show with What's Good and What We're 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.
Links
Kris Ward on Washington Spirit dismissal: ‘If I could go back and handle it differently, I would’ https://theathletic.com/3540934/2022/08/26/kris-ward-washington-spirit
Washington Spirit players dispute Kris Ward's account of his dismissal: https://prosoccerwire.usatoday.com/2022/08/28/washington-spirit-kris-ward-players-statement-andi-sullivan-aubrey-kingsbury
NWSL Players Association files grievance against league over free agency for 22 players: https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-nwsl/story/4729819/nwsl-players-association-files-grievance-against-league-over-free-agency-for-22-players
NWSL free agency status in dispute for several players on eve of negotiation period: https://theathletic.com/3539143/2022/08/25/nwsl-free-agency-dispute
San Diego Wave to break NWSL single-game attendance record, Alex Morgan reveals: https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-nwsl/story/4728873/san-diego-wave-to-break-nwsl-single-game-attendance-recordalex-morgan-reveals
How Casey Stoney turned San Diego Wave from expansion side to NWSL title contender: https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-nwsl/story/4719485/how-casey-stoney-turned-san-diego-wave-from-expansion-side-to-nwsl-title-contender
NWSL Championship coming to primetime: https://www.sounderatheart.com/2022/8/24/23318048/nwsl-championship-coming-to-primetime
Transcript
Brenda: Welcome to Burn It All Down. It's the feminist sports podcast you need. Today on the show, it's Lindsay and I. Hello, Lindsay.
Lindsay: Hi!
Brenda: Somehow when it's only two, it tends to be me and Linz. So, I don't know, the universe just wants to throw us together, and I'm okay with that.
Lindsay: Me too.
Brenda: Are you?
Lindsay: I just remembered that we're on video now, and I was like, oh, I should have like cleaned up the mess behind me, [Brenda laughs] but everyone knows I am still going through complete repairs of my kitchen. So it's just reality. You know, we're real and raw here on Burn It All Down. [laughter]
Brenda: Well, what we're gonna talk about for everybody is what's going on in women's soccer, especially the NWSL, but also US women's national team. And for those of you that want to become patrons, we have amazing content, including Lindsay's messy bedroom. So please check out the content on patreon.com/burnitalldown. We are gonna have a segment on WNBA playoffs. And I know you wanna hear Linz talk about that. So, before we get to women's soccer, I wanna spend a minute on women's tennis. We are recording today on. Tuesday, August 30th. Serena Williams did play the first round of the US Open last night. There was a big fete after her win. Billie Jean King came out. Oprah's friend, Gayle, I guess. Linz, did you have…How did you experience that moment?
Lindsay: Well, first of all, people are gonna call me a hater, whatever. I don't know. I watched her in Montreal, it was, against Raducanu. She did not look good. I did not expect her to win this at all. I just didn't.
Brenda: Like, team McEnroe. That’s what John McEnroe said. The exact same thing.
Lindsay: I am not a huge fan of the Chrissie Evert, John McEnroe tennis commentator team. But also, anytime you say anything even kind of negative about Serena, like, “Oh, she's not moving her feet” when she's clearly not moving her feet, people call you a hater. [laughs] So it is like me saying right now, this is just realistically, I didn't expect her to win this match. People will say that like I hate Serena and like I'm a hater. No, I just was using the knowledge I had from her previous match. So, so happy she won. I was so happy she got that moment. It was a little weird to have a big ceremony afterwards, but I ended up really enjoying it. Like, I talked myself into it, because it was like, I don't know.
First of all, the US Open always does some audacious, over the top ceremony to kick off the night session on Arthur Ashe on night one. So it made sense for it to be all about Serena, because like if she wins and you're acting like it's just a normal match, like that's a lie. It’s not a normal match. Like, every single person there, celebrities, fans – our two Amira and Jess were there. You know, they went because they thought that might be Serena's last match. It was a different atmosphere. So why pretend that it's not a celebration of Serena, you know what I mean? And I thought the little ceremony after her match ended up being really fun and kind of a hot mess, but in like a really endearing way. Like, I loved it.
Brenda: I was good with it too. And yeah, Burn It All Down was present in the form of Jessica Luther, Amira Rose Davis, and our wonderful friend of the show Frank Guridy.
Lindsay: Oh, I didn't know Frank was there!
Brenda: Yeah. And so I kept texting them. Of course they were ignoring me because they were at something much more important. [Lindsay laughs] But I felt somehow connected. It was really beautiful. I love to hear McEnroe reference Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe. And of course that comes straight from Serena remembering them and commemorating them all the time. And she's so good about contextualizing her career. I love the story from Billie Jean King about how, when she was six years old, she saw Serena's serve and said, don't change anything. And Billie Jean King's just a good storyteller. So, I agree. We've come a really long way from a polite tennis clap.
Lindsay: Yeah. [laughs] Just, I dunno, I saw so many people online being like, this is weird because it seemed like they were planning on her losing, you know? So like they planned this retirement ceremony, but she's continuing on in the tournament, and it’s like, well, A) she could have lost, so you need to have something prepared. And B) like, because she won, it ended up being much more joyous. And I mean, okay. Can we talk about the outfit and the glitter and the diamonds in the hair? And Olympia wearing a matching outfit except having the beads like Serena did when she first came on the scene? She had what Ava Wallace, our friend of the Washington Post, called a “butt cape” of glitter, like when she walked onto the court. It was a moment. It was so cool.
Brenda: It was beautiful. She looked amazing. I love glitter. I'm one of the few parents that has made it through three girls and I still love glitter everywhere all the time.
Lindsay: That is so off brand.
Brenda: I know.
Lindsay: I am actually like stunned.
Brenda: I know. My kids just throw glitter. I have it stuck in my hair for years. I think it's embedded.
Lindsay: You are full of surprises, Bren. You are full of surprises.
Brenda: I know. So I'm all for Serena wearing glitter all over. I hope she does the next time. I do love how she's forced John McEnroe to guess what kind of glitter she might have on her outfit in the next round, as if that's something you ever thought you would hear that man discuss. [laughs] He's like, “Maybe she could wear a white outfit with black glitter.” And I was just like, wow, she really has changed just everything about this sport.
Brenda: Okay, so, much has been happening in women's soccer this summer. I love it. Even Copa América and the Euros notwithstanding, Lindsay and I are gonna delve into it right now, starting with the US women's national team, but really focused on the NWSL and the relationship between the US women's national team and the NWSL, which is really interesting for me too. So, just to start out. Last week started with US women's national team's call up for the friendlies against Nigeria in the beginning of September, and that sparked all kinds of controversy in terms of who Vlatko picked, who he didn't pick. He came out with a big interview explaining how he picks out players, which was kind of ridiculous and basically says he watches the NWSL, which I guess, great? Was that on the table as something he didn't do? [laughter] I don't really know. But I think he was also trying to say, look, the growth of this professional league has meant that I have an embarrassment of riches in terms of who I'm calling up. Linz, how did you see that play out?
Lindsay: I am not an expert enough on the individual talent levels of women's soccer players to have super duper strong, you know, analysis on any of the roster call ups. I just think after every roster call up and the backlash, I think I'm glad that's not me [laughs] who’s having to decide.
Brenda: Yes.
Lindsay: I think US women's national team fans are always a bit over the top, as all fans should be. That's part of a healthy fandom, right, is to be over the top. But you know, I think it's a very nerve wracking time for US women's national team fans, you know, winning two World Cups in a row is remarkable, and it also though really sets you up to be knocked off that throne, right? And I think if you're looking at the global game right now, if you're looking what we just saw in Euros, in Copa América, if you're looking all around, you're seeing so much talent, you're seeing so many other healthy leagues. It's all exciting. And if you're a fan of the US women's national team, it's also terrifying, because it's only gonna get harder and harder and harder. And ultimately that's a good thing for everybody, right? Like, that's a good thing for the health of the growth of the sport.
But it's gonna be tough. And it's literally hard to win, whether it be by approval of your selection process or just winning on the field. So, I'm really excited for some of the friendlies coming up this fall. Usually between the Olympics and the World Cup there’s, what, like two full years, three years? But because of COVID everything's compressed. Really can't believe the World Cup is next year. So, I'm anxious for everyone, but I'm also like, I'm not gonna tell you whether or not Vlatko made the right decisions, because I just don't know. [laughs]
Brenda: Well, there's a degree to which it's impossible, right? Because we don't know what his architecture is. We don't know what he's kind of looking for, what he thinks he needs. That takes a better field of vision than I have certainly as a coach. And I coach youth. So I just tie shoe laces most of the time, and that takes up a lot of what my coaching involves. [laughs] So I can't imagine trying to look at the field. One of the things that's interesting to me is a critique was about the official who is playing in the Mexican league, and her not getting a call up, or maybe she should have. And I think it's interesting when he said I'm looking at the NWSL, because what we see is, you know, Macario over in Ligue 1, we see all this US talent kind of spread out now in different leagues, and not just the NWSL. And I think that kind of rattles people.
And I just wanna put a question out there, and we don't have to answer it at all, we can move on. I just wanna…I don't know, put like a pin in it for future thinking, looking ahead, what the health of these leagues, of the NWSL, of the Liga Mexicana, of the European leagues especially, and thinking to myself what it's gonna mean for women's soccer in college. College used to be a place where the US women's national team was scouted. And I'm not sure that that's gonna be the case anymore with professionalization. So, I don't know. I'm just really interested in how it all plays out, what Vlatko and his team is gonna kind of do, and how that's gonna affect NCAA's importance in kind of global soccer. And if we see that diminish in a way, that's not necessarily sad, but also healthy.
Lindsay: I agree. I think it's gonna be very curious to see how things evolve. And also, I just wanna add, like, one of the reasons Vlatko is under so much criticism and, you know, people being upset is because the legends of yesterday are not going away quietly. They're not making it easy to be left off the team, right? Alex Morgan is having one of the best seasons of her career, right? Like, she's not ready to let go of those spots. Megan Rapinoe, you know, she’s already admitted that she's very down for a very diminished role on the US women's national team, but you see some of the goals and some of the instincts she has in the NWSL and in finishing – it's hard to leave her off roster, right? Like, it's not easy to just turn the page when the current page is so damn good. [laughs]
Brenda: Yeah. And you know, it's interesting to hear people's critique of the way that players age. And we talk about this on the show a lot. It's so interesting how players change, whether it's Messi or Ronaldo with age, how they change their game, you know, and a lot of people have come out and sort of said things about speed. And I just wanna remind people for the last time that the US women's national team has never really been speedy. I don't know if you remember this woman named Abby Wambach [laughs] or, you know, they're really slow. You know, that's not what distinguishes some of these players. So it's not necessarily that they've lost that spark and what made them special before. So, we'll see. I mean, it'll be interesting. He has plenty of young players on that roster, so it might just be a very good balance.
Okay. So, news is also coming fast in this NWSL season. Reigning champions, the Washington Spirit, have had a dismal go of it thus far. They are next to last place, just ahead of Gotham City FC. And at the top of the standings are the San Diego Wave with the Dash and KC right behind them. We are gonna get to that feel-good story in a moment. But before that, I wanna talk about the Spirit. Just over a week ago, the Spirit fired head coach Kris Ward without much communication. One liner saying he's been relieved of his duties. And fans will remember that last year their coach Richie Burke was fired because of player abuse. So the very brief communication from the front office that Ward had just an “incident” with a player was not enough. Lindsay, can you tell us what we've learned since that announcement?
Lindsay: Yeah, we've learned a lot. First of all, you just can't handle things the way the Spirit did given all this league has been through, which, I feel like we come together every few months and just talk drama in the NWSL and, you know, little d drama and capital D Drama, like, very serious and unsettling things. And given the history of abusive coaches in this league and within the Spirit in particular, you simply just cannot handle things and the communications the way the Spirit did. It was very unprofessional and it left a vacuum. So, we had Kris Ward give a Q&A with The Athletic with Pablo and Meg Linehan. He said that he did raise his voice for the first time all year at a player. They were working on, you know, how to control the game in various circumstances. And he said, “I ended up getting upset and yelling at her to get off the field” because one of the players was having a hard time grasping what he was talking about. And he said, “It was probably the first time all year that I've ever raised my voice to any of the players.”
When asked if he would characterize the way he addressed the player as inappropriate, he said, “If I had to do it again, I would do it differently. I kind of used volume instead of pulling a player aside. And from that standpoint, you know, I would do it differently.” But he also stressed, you know, there wasn't any name calling, belittling or anything like that. It wasn't over the top from a language standpoint. So he was trying to thread the line of saying I do see how this could be interpreted, but it wasn't that bad. And he gets into talking about a lot of other issues with the club – a lot of losing, a lot of trouble schedule-wise since the Challenge Cup, and a lot of changes with Michele Kang coming on board as the owner, and then moving into these United offices and just, you know, a whole host of things. Of course, after this interview came out, there was a lot of discussion of, “Oh my god, can a coach not even yell at players anymore?” Like, heaven forbid.
And I think it's very important, I wanna read this in full, that after their game this weekend, Andi Sullivan, the Washington Spirit co-captain, gave a statement: “We would like to start off with a statement on behalf of the players. Firstly, we are frustrated that this is necessary given our history. Second, we are angered by Kris Ward's answers and the piece by The Athletic. We know the idiom that there are two sides to every story, but that is simply not the case in this scenario. We know his interview to be a completely inaccurate recollection of a serious situation. And furthermore, the apology offered to us last Friday demonstrates a misalignment in his words and actions towards this team. The players fully support the decision of the club to relieve him of his duties as head coach. And we have every intention of cooperating in a proper course of action as it relates to circumstances like this one.”
So, that’s a new wrinkle that's been added to this. That does change the way I think about it. These players are not weak. These players have been in pro soccer for most of their life, you know, or like competitive soccer. Trust me. They've been yelled out a lot. Like, they've dealt with tough coaching. I trust these players to know the difference between tough coaching and inappropriate. And all the investigations are still ongoing. You know, there are internal investigations, external investigations on the federation level, on the NWSL level, on team levels. Doesn't seem like we're gonna have any answers til, you know, this season is over. And I'm just kind of devastated that the players had to release a statement like that.
Brenda: Yeah, it's disappointing because there was a lot of optimism that the change in the front office and the change in ownership was gonna result in a different set of circumstances. So, you know, it didn't seem like round one they've done much better than they did last time.
Lindsay: Well, although it did, it seems like, this situation happened and they did fire him immediately.
Brenda: True.
Lindsay: I think the communication could be way better, but I do actually think it's a good sign that it was taken care of. Of course, what we don't know is, you know, if the history of this had been building. And also the Spirit very much portrayed this as being a combination of this incident and the on field results, right? Of both being taken into account. So I was disappointed that the Spirit left any doubt. I think they should have said specifically that they fired him. And I just don't like how it was handled.
Brenda: Well, and going forward, I hope their search takes a different track. If you know the organization has created this toxic environment and then you say we're gonna just keep the assistant coach and make him head coach, you know, you might wanna think twice about your hiring choices, and a little more carefully. So, we'll see what happens. It's, you know, a developing story. Another developing story, before we get to the fun stuff, is that the NWSL players association filed a grievance last week over the eligibility of 22 of its players for free agency, which is in dispute. For the first time, the NWSL is opening free agency, and I am super confused because this league, as the players point out, doesn't remind me of any football league that I know. To me, any soccer league is governed by the overlords of the transfer system at FIFA, okay? So they all belong to that. They all need to apply for transfers anyway. It’s not like free agency is really as free in most football leagues as one wants, right? But in any case, were they like forced to sign five year contracts before this and never let out? I mean, what happened when their contract was up?
Lindsay: I actually didn't fully understand. And thankfully our friends at The Athletic, Meg and Steph, did a great breakdown of it for me as far as like what used to happen.
Brenda: Thank you both.
Lindsay: Here's how it works. So, this is from The Athletic, once again, from Meg Linehan and Steph Yang. So it says free agents can pick any team to negotiate with for a new contract that begins at the end of their current contract, regardless of which team currently holds their rights. And prior to this free agency, all players whose contracts expired and who didn't have their rights controlled by a team first went on a waiver wire for 24 hours during which other teams could claim their rights, and afterwards they became discovery players. During this process, teams could then submit a discovery request to the league to claim exclusive rights to negotiate with that player for a period of 30 days. And discovery is still in place for players who are not eligible to be free agents under the terms of the CBA. So that process sounds really horrible. [laughs]
Brenda: Yeah. And supposedly they still have to do that if they haven't been in the league for five years.
Lindsay: Yeah. Exactly.
Brenda: Like, it's only in the sixth years, like, what the fuck, NWSL? Like, what? I really did not fully understand that. That is bonkers.
Lindsay: So like, it goes back…Like, I remember I've done a lot of reporting on the first WNBA player union contract, which was back in ’99. But free agency, it took them to their second contract to get free agency. It was something they really, really, really, really, really had to fight for, because these players did not have full control over their rights once they dumped the team. And it's a big labor rights issue given the way American sports are structured and with salary caps and with all of that. And so I do think that maybe the terminology is different than it's used kind of overseas and stuff. But I do think it's a huge labor rights win for the players, ultimately. And of course, you know, Brenda and I differ, because I'm just super Americanized in the way I've grown up with sports, so free agency is a term I'm very used to. So I'm very curious how this works out, but I'm also very…It is a really good deal, because for a team to be able to claim you and to have exclusive negotiating rights for 30 days, and you just have to like wait out those 30 days – that doesn't seem right! [laughs]
Brenda: I'm just…Yeah, I just did not fully appreciate the situation they were in. So I'm glad that you've like done some digging into this, because it's not really that easy to figure it out. If this appeal is rejected, what happens? There's 22 that are still in dispute, right? If they qualify.
Lindsay: Yeah. That's because they have an option on their contract. So they have a team option on their contract, and the whole deal is the players think that they should be able to negotiate anyways. But the teams don't have to make a decision on that option until like November 15th or something like that. You know, there's just dispute as to where…Which also, like, this just really seems like stuff that we could have figured out before all this started. But…
Brenda: Yeah, it does seem like the CBA should override any individual contracts, or that's usually the way it works, but like, gosh, who knows with US labor law right now what happens. So let's hope they get some acknowledgement and freedom to move around. In spite of some of these things, there really have been some high points to the season thus far. And for me, one of them is the San Diego Wave, the expansion team whose star player, Alex Morgan, is just playing lights out and a thousand percent committed to making this club as popular as she can possibly make it. She's clearly thrilled to be back in California. You know, she's on every talk show, every morning talk show around.
Alex Morgan: Just to see the growth of the NWSL and women's soccer in the US, and then add that with the ambitions of this club, it’s just really exciting to be a part of this club, and at this point in my career.
Brenda: What we see is that attendance has followed their success. I mean, who wouldn't wanna see her right now? they broke the record of over 27,000 tickets sold. That's the record for a regular season single match for NWSL. That's for their game against Angel City FC on September 17th. So it looks like having two expansion teams in California was a good move, huh? Like, hmm. Maybe rivalries work. [laughs]
Lindsay: Maybe, who knew? Who knew?
Brenda: I mean, that's pretty big numbers, you know, to come out like right away, season one. And of course, Angel City had, you know, all the Hollywood people behind it, and that's great, and we covered that a lot, but the Wave definitely didn't. That was somewhat of a surprise.
Lindsay: I had no idea. Like, I thought that they were gonna get overshadowed, right? Like completely. And it's just good to know that there are multiple ways to do this right. You know what I mean? Like, it's great to have a Natalie Portman and, you know, celebrity friends, as long as they're doing it right. But you can also have independent ownership groups in not as big cities also doing it right. And that's just great news.
Brenda: Yeah. I mean, when I think about it, it's not really as surprising as one might think. I mean, it's a really well placed team. Like, think about the kind of families and the culture of girls’ and then women's soccer there. Think about, you know, everything from the zoo to the universities, like, it's a great city. It’s got a huge Latinx population. They've done a lot of their marketing in Spanish. I think that has been tremendously successful. Even, you know, the Wave “FC” is fútbol club, right? So, they spell it the Spanish way, which, whatever, is performative, but also important at the same time. They also have an amazing manager. I don't know how many people are old enough to remember Casey Stoney playing for England. She was captain of the English national women's team. She is one of the like founding players, defender of that generation that has made the Lionesses the team that you saw this year at the Euros. And she is so great and charismatic, and I'm really excited to see her. Lindsay, do you think that US audiences really even knew who she was?
Lindsay: I mean, not general audiences, no. But I think, you know, women's soccer fans who paid any attention to what's been going on, you know, internationally, I think definitely did. I mean, also there are so few women managers and coaches given a chance that that's how I knew of her, right? Like, I don't follow European football as closely as I should, but it was well publicized that there was this woman leading this team and having all this success because that's not the norm. So, I mean, I don't know if all the San Diego fans…She’s probably not the draw for like everybody, you know, all 27,000 people there. [laughs]
Brenda: I'm just so glad to see her get her due.
Lindsay: Me too.
Brenda: I'd like to see her continue to succeed there. The Wave are moving into Snapdragon Stadium, which they will share with the University of San Diego. That seats 35,000. So, given the 27,000 number, which is terrific, I think that's super exciting. A smaller but just as if not more exciting project is the KC Current who's 11,500 seat stadium is scheduled to be ready for 2024. It is also being constructed and designed under the guise of women engineers, or majority of women engineers. And so it might be – and flamethrowers can check on us – it might be the first ever stadium constructed specifically for a women's professional team. So that would be very exciting. There are very, very few stadiums at all in the US that are dedicated solely to soccer, much less a women's team. So that's really exciting. And I just wanna close out this segment with how the season's gonna end.
Lindsay: This is such exciting news.
Brenda: Yeah.
Lindsay: We finally found out, there's been a delay in the announcement of the time and place of the championship game for the NWSL, which has been frustrating, but it was for good reason, for once. [laughs] The 2022 NWSL championship will be at 8:00pm eastern on Saturday, October 29th, live from Audi Field in Washington, DC. 8pm eastern! You might notice that is prime time on a Saturday night on CBS in late October. This is a time when football, college football is really big. It's a hard time to get prime time broadcast time. And it turns out that Ally partnered with NWSL and CBS to make this worthwhile for CBS. So I guess to pay them so they would definitely be making enough money to hold that spot for women's soccer. That's a huge deal. Like, I don't need anymore feel-good commercials about like women's empowerment and about like how Nike loves women or whatever it is. This is the type of real allyship we need. But we're stuck with capitalism, so let's make it, like, this is how I would like it to work more often in women's sports. And now we all have to tune in. We all have to tell everyone about it, because this is a really big deal.
Brenda: And we just get to see it for the first time. I mean, I know it costs a lot of money and that sucks to get some of these streaming services and to get some of these channels, but it's so great to be able to watch it. I mean, it just wasn't that long ago that it was virtually impossible.
Lindsay: Also kudos the players, because if you remember last year, it was originally decided that i the game was gonna be in Portland at first. And it was noon eastern on CBS. Like, that was the only time CBS was willing to give them. And so that would've been a 9:00am game, right? And the players said absolutely not. And it ended up getting moved to Louisville, I believe, but that was still in that noon time slot. It was just, at least for the players, not on west coast time. And I really think that those players speaking out and using their voices and having that solidarity is what helped alert sponsors and alert the league. Like, we have to figure out a solution here, because this is unacceptable.
Brenda: All right, well, get ready, mark your calendars, October 29th. We’ll definitely be keeping our coverage of NWSL ongoing here at Burn It All Down.
Brenda: If you want to hear Lindsay and I give an update on the WNBA – which really means hear Lindsay giving an update on the WNBA and me learning about those playoffs, go to patreon.com/burnitalldown. It's a great segment. This week on Burn It All Down's interview, I spoke with Ana Jurka, Telemundo Deportes’ Emmy nominated sports and entertainment host, who will be one of the commentators for the network's World Cup coverage, about her journey from Honduras to Orlando to Qatar.
Ana: I would like to say, oh my gosh, I remember when I was dreaming about hosting, being the main host of the World Cup, but I would be lying. Because that never occurred to me that it was even possible, you know?
Brenda: Check it out now in your podcast feed.
Brenda: And now, everybody's favorite part of the show. We are going to take all the things that have been awful in sports, or just at least two of them, because there are two of us, and throw them on the metaphorical burn pile and set them aflame. Linz, do you wanna start off?
Lindsay: Last Friday, Rachel Richardson, the only Black starter for the Duke volleyball team, was subjected to racial abuse, including fans chanting the n-word every time she went and touched the ball during a game at BYU. Her godmother first brought this to Twitter saying that, you know, every time she served, she was called the n-word, and her goddaughter was threatened by a white male that told her to watch her back going to the team bus. A police officer had to be put by their bench during the match. That's how bad it got. But it did not get bad enough for anyone at BYU or on the Duke team to stop the game and to protect this player. After the godmother, Lesa Pamplin, brought this to Twitter, Rachel herself came out with this statement, and those around her did as well. It turns out that not only was everyone aware that this was happening – because, again, the police officer had to come on the bench – but there was really nobody who acted to protect her during the game or afterwards. The BYU coaching staff did absolutely nothing.
It's really kind of hard to even put into words how despicable something like this is, and I just wanna say, first of all, to the athletic director at BYU who, after this incident, he was quick to apologize and condemn it. They banned the fan, but his statement did not include the word racism. And he totally took the, “if you only knew the person behind the skin color,” you know, “that that's what we have to do, we just have to get to know one another and love one another,” which, that's not the problem. The problem is blatant racism. These are not random acts, and they're especially not random acts when they're allowed to happen throughout the entirety of the game. Even if it's just one person subjecting the abuse. The fact that this was not stopped in any way by those around them, by the administrators. All the BYU games are filmed. I mean, somebody has to step in and protect the player, and it cannot be on her and on her Black teammates to tell people how to respond to this and to take a step up.
So, banning this one fan is not nearly good enough. These are systemic issues. BYU just a few weeks ago said that they weren't using the diversity equity and inclusion training that the rest of the world used, that they needed to find their own way that was “gospel led.” You know, on the other hand, Rachel Richardson specifically said that Duke's DEI training helped her navigate this, which I still have a problem with Duke's DEI training, because the Duke coach, nobody stopped this while it was happening. I'm sorry, this has to be stopped. And every single team, and especially those led by white people, which is so many of the teams, you need to have protocols and plans in place for if racial abuse happens to your players of color while they are on the court, and you need to be ready to act. And BYU should absolutely be sanctioned. This is despicable. And we don't time in this burn to get into BYU's entire history of this, you know, racial abuse. But it's just absolutely devastating.
I want to finish by reading though what Rachel said. I do wanna highlight her words. She said, “Although the heckling eventually took a mental toll on me, I refused to allow it to stop me from doing what I love to do, play volleyball. I refuse to allow those racist bigots to feel any degree of satisfaction. Therefore, on behalf of my African American teammates and I, we do not want to receive pity or be looked at as helpless. We do not feel as though we are victims of some tragic and unavoidable event. We are proud to be young African American women, and we are proud to be Duke student athletes. And we are proud to stand up against racism.” So, to all those who heard this and did nothing, to all those who treat this as a one off incident, and to those who cannot call out racism and particularly anti-Black racism by the names that they are, burn.
Brenda: Burn. Ugh. That is horrible. There is no excuse for not intervening. And I guess this burn pile has a back to school theme, because I'm also burning the handling of in this case a sexual assault case by San Diego State University. And it's pretty shocking. We are decades into this. We are decades into everyone at the university being trained, universities having entire offices, Title IX offices, DEI coordinators, everything. And that investment has been made. You have to purposefully avoid doing the right thing, almost, at many universities. I'm not saying BYU, in this case, San Diego State. I want to burn the handling of San Diego State University football athletics program, and the campus police, or I think they call themselves…What is it? “Public security?” For the not handling of this particular case.
So, we heard this past week, the Buffalo Bills have punter Matt Araiza just days after a civil lawsuit was filed which charged Araiza and two other San Diego State football players of raping a 17 year old girl. The LA Times, especially Colleen Shalby, has done amazing reporting on this. They launched an investigation last month. So even before the Bills had heard about this. So I'm just staying centered here on the university. The investigation found that San Diego State University decided not to alert any of the campus community. They did not even, when requested by the police, launch a real investigation, which they are legally responsible for doing. And it took the survivor going to the press and going back to the police, and still the university – now we're talking seven months, eight months out of it – have done nothing. Absolutely nothing.
And so they filed a civil suit. This brought it to the attention of the Bills. I mean, let's say the Bills knew anyway, but whatever. I'm not even getting into the NFL, I'm just staying on the campus police and security right now. They had this case on their desk for seven to eight months, and people continued to go to school. People continued to go about their business and nothing was done. And now you've got this situation in which Matt Araiza and the Bills are claiming that this person, this survivor, is targeting him. And it's absolutely ridiculous. Like I said, you have to try to avoid these offices and these initiatives at the university. So, I wanna burn the total negligence of San Diego State University and its athletics program. That athletic director should be fired. They should be sued by the state of California. They should be sued by San Diego. They are in violation of everything that has…Like, major fucking constitutional legislation. What are you talking about? Burn.
Lindsay: Burn, burn, burn.
Brenda: Okay. After all that burn-worthy material…There’s two of us, and I still feel like it's just on fire. Let's celebrate some of the wonderful things that have happened this week in sports and some of the wonderful people trying to change the terrible structures that be. I wanna start to congratulate the grassroots organizations that have pressured Brazilian football federation to change its policies on racism, including the likes of Fare, which I should say I work with, and Observatório Racial. Because this past week, the federation has proposed and launched a program beginning in 2023 that clubs who have fans en masse and repeatedly engaging in racist behavior will face a point punishment. You know, they will lose actual points in their quest to win the championship. This is a really big deal because, for those of you that aren't aware outside of US soccer, you can be relegated. Those clubs can leave. So, congratulations to the grassroots activists that pushed this really, really big change. It's awesome. Lindsay?
Lindsay: Shoutout to Carol Hutchins, who retired this week after 38 years as the head coach of Michigan softball. She leaves as the winnings coach in school history, which is amazing, because Michigan's got lot of sports. [laughter] She led Michigan to one national title, 22 Big Ten regular season titles, and 10 Big Ten tournament championships.
Brenda: And I wanna shout out and highlight Baruch student Carly Quint, who finished number one in Division III in softball and averaged RBIs per game 1.67. She had 65 total RBIs in 39 games. Congratulations, Carly. Lindsay?
Lindsay: Yeah, we've got our WNBA end of season awards coming down the pipeline. Shoutout to Rhyne Howard, rookie of the year, with 53 of 56 votes. Jackie Young, the most improved player. James Wade, the executive of the year. And then Becky Hammon, the coach of the year, which we love to see. And of course, Sylvia Fowles with the Kim Perrot sportsmanship award. Congratulations to everyone for a wonderful regular season in the WNBA.
Brenda: And can I get a drumroll?
[drumroll]
Guppy fish drumroll. But we mean it sincerely. Congratulations to the Spanish national women's team for winning the under 20 World Cup in a 3-1 victory over Japan. It was held in Costa Rica, a very successful and wonderful tournament. The Spanish program has just leapt onto the scene, largely because of this activism we've covered here at Burn It All Down. They have gotten more resources, and look what they've done.
Brenda: And in dark times, we like to celebrate what's good in our world. As I'm looking at the document, Lindsay, per usual like me, has left it blank. [laughter] Lindsay, Lindsay, without a kitchen, still, what's good?
Lindsay: Well, like it's been two months without a kitchen, everyone. It’s been two months. It was July 3rd when it started raining hot water for three hours in my kitchen because the pipe bursts two floors above me in my condo building. Have not had a kitchen since. This week I have met with people who are, you know, like flooring people and drywall people and cabinet people. I've at least talked to them. I've seen that they exist. They've seen my place. My guess right now is it's gonna be another full month until maybe I have a functional kitchen. I really miss my kitchen sink most of all, nothing glamorous. It's not even the floor that I miss. It's not the giant hole being filled in my kitchen wall. It's just a sink. I just really miss my kitchen sink. But anyways, good stuff. Let's see. I'm loving the WNBA playoffs, loving the US Open. This is one of my favorite sports times of the year. I, over the weekend, Mo and I went with my aunt to what is like a doggy water park in Kannapolis, North Carolina. And Mo, who does not swim, still had the time of his life. So that was a blast. So, what's good is progress on the front of my kitchen. So, I'm gonna celebrate it.
Brenda: Fair. That's a really good attitude.
Lindsay: I should say though, that Brenda, your what's good also looks very familiar, [laughter] because I'm pretty sure you’ve written this name next to your what’s good at least like half of the time.
Brenda: Because half of the time that’s was good! This was seeing Bad Bunny at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, August 28th. And it was amazing. And he played for over three hours, I think, over 40 songs. And it was not just him. It was the crowd. You know, to see him with the Boricua people, you know, out there singing every lyric. And it was super disorganized, you know, like in Bronx public security fashion, it was a ridiculous mess, but people were so tranquilo, people were so chill. They were awesome. It was such a good vibe. I didn't see anybody like yelling, pushing, and it was a mess, you know? And it was hot as a hell. It was like 95. We're all standing there trying to just get in to see the Bunny. And people were so cool. And he just absolutely delivered. In the middle of the show he accepted the VMA Award for artist of the year. Carmelo Anthony gave it to him, so you can picture what the reaction of this crowd was like. He kissed dancers, male and female and in between identified. It was awesome.
He was like in great spirits. He did not break into English once, not on the VMAs and not altogether. And let me tell you, it was appreciated. People there just love him and love his kind of, yeah, just the constant political representation, the constant critique of machismo, and it was just awesome. The energy, it was so good. It was so good. There was sand…Okay. This is the last thing I'll say. There was even sand outside the stadium because the whole kind of theme of the concert, Un Verano Sin Ti, is about, you know, the beach. And he's always like coming back to like this broader beach, fuck it mentality, right? And there was like beach sand that they put all over Yankee Stadium and it was great. It just, like, it was so fun. Yeah. That's my what’s good. It's gonna be my what's good for like a really long time, but I promise I won't put it…But it's better than pumpkin spice. So there.
Brenda: What we're watching this week. We've already covered it. Check out the US Open. WNBA playoffs. Ongoing NWSL games. I mean, it's a really great time for sports, as Linz said.
Lindsay: And aren't you going to the US Open, Bren?
Brenda: Today. That's really good.
Lindsay: Yay! That's what's great.
Brenda: It is. Still, if I could go back and see Bad Bunny again, I just would. [Lindsay laughs] I love Naomi Osaka, but that was insane. It's hard for me to bounce back and enjoy normal levels of real life, but I'm gonna love it.
Lindsay: Alright. I dunno if seeing Naomi Osaka on Arthur Ashe is a normal level of real life.
Brenda: I'm thrilled. I'm thrilled. [Lindsay laughs] I’m just, you know, I'm coming down. So, okay. That's all for Burn It All Down. This episode was produced be Tressa Versteeg. Shelby Weldon is our web and social media wizard. Burn It All Down is part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Follow Burn It All Down on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Listen, 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. If you wanna become a sustaining donor to our show again, visit patreon.com/burnitalldown. And once again, you can listen to Lindsay's amazing WNBA playoff rundown. I'm Brenda Elsey, on behalf of Lindsay and my co-hosts, keep burning on and not out. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Have a great week.