The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - GOOD FOLLOW - Ros Gold-Onwude Talks All Things WNBA + The NWSL Returns & More

Episode Date: August 25, 2024

This week on Good Follow: Megan, Katie, and Logan discuss Gabby Williams re-signing with the Seattle Storm, and the San Diego Wave hiring Landon Donovan as interim HC. Then Ros Gold-Onwude returns to the show to talk Liberty, Fever, and more. Finally, Megan shares her NWSL DraftKings picks of the week Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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I'm Megan Reyes and alongside me are Logan Hackett and Katie Novotny. So I know we're all still feeling fired up from the Olympics and the WNBA is fully back. So we're going to start the show with a story that combines them both. By now we all know the US women's basketball team won gold for the eighth straight time in Paris, but the gold medal game was a little too close for comfort for USA fans, mostly because French star Gabby Williams hit some huge shots. Gabby set out the first half of the WMA season to prep for the Olympics, and earlier this week she resigned with the Seattle Storm, potentially being a huge domino in the playoff race.

Seattle are currently the fifth seed and are breathing down the ace's necks. After watching her almost single-handedly beat the USA, won't it be fun to root for her now that she's back in the W? Absolutely. And I love that now she's coming in with more of a worldwide presence. Beforehand, it was just, it's Gabby Williams on Seattle.

You kind of know who she is, especially for outsiders. But she's coming in as a celebrity. She's cultured. Yeah, she has so much more behind her. I'm so excited. When I was watching the game, I was texting my friend during it. And I was like, dude, someone on this French chick is good. I was like she is good she's gonna take him out. Well let's stick with Seattle for a

minute. Their star, one of their stars, Skylar Diggins-Smith seemed to go after Caitlin Clark during a timeout last weekend or did she? I don't know let's check out this video and we can see for ourselves. Okay, well, this seems a little out of character. What do you think happened here? It's just competition, man. Like, it's just like, it's just petty after game. It's like, I don't want to shake your hand. Like, I don't everyone's making mountains out of molehills. It's driving me nuts. Mountains out of molehills. It's driving me nuts. Mountains out of molehills. OK, like this. I have the same view.

Like when I was playing sports, there'd be some time I'm just fired up, like regardless of what it is, I'm just mad going back to the bench. I'm like, you know what? Like, I'm just going to hit somebody like it's not like she punched or anything. But also when Caitlin was in Iowa, she was doing the same thing all the time. Little nudges here and there. So I don't think it's that big of a deal, but everybody is saying it's huge. I think, too, on the men's side, we see this all the time.

And if anything, it's laughed about and it's like, oh, did you see that? You know, he didn't want to duck him up. And it's funny. But on the women's side, as you both said, we're making it more of a storyline than it really needs to be. Yeah, because no one can just get behind women being anything but like Demure. And we will get more into Demure later. Yes. But it's like women can be whatever they freaking want to be. Let them be angry. Let them have, have feelings. Let them be angry. Let them have feelings. Let them show their frustration.

Like if you have an ounce of emotion, it's a whole headline. That's ridiculous. It makes me so... It fires me up, to be honest. I'm not going to go on a full tangent, but it's like a couple years ago when Serena was very emotional during her match, and it became a whole story. It's like they want women to be powerful and inspiring all the time. They can't they can't be competitive and show emotion. But I digress. That's for a different conversation, a different day. We're going to stay here on the Caitlin Clark storyline because there's been some buzz lately

around the sequel to the 2003 classic Freaky Friday starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan. And while Jamie Lee Curtis had a suggestion for who she liked to switch bodies with in real life, and it's none other than Caitlin Clark. She said, quote, I want to be Caitlin Clark for a day. I want to play basketball like Caitlin Clark. If you could switch bodies with any WNBA player, who would it be? Katie, I'll start with you. Well, I just came off watching the Super documentary

and I just want to be her. I want to know what it feels like to be such an icon and a leader. And I loved how they emphasized how like reserved she is and how outgoing Tarasi is and how they balance each other out. And I was like, I want to be the one that's quiet for once. Like I want to know what that feels like. I'm so sick of being the loud annoying one. I just love, I just like, and she's just so,

she's so graceful on and off the court. I would love to be her. What about you, Logan? Who would you be? I have two for completely different reasons. My first is Britton Griner because I want to be tall. I want to see what it feels like to be that tall. I've literally lived my whole life being so short and only seeing like this. I want to see above it. I just want to be tall. Your concert experience will be better. Yes, literally everything will be better I feel.

The other one is Maureen Yohannes. She's not in the W right now, but she used to be on New York. She did the whole Olympic break situation with Team France as well. She is just so smooth. I feel like she glides through everything. Like her thinking is so fast. She's the female MJ when she was playing. So I would love to do that and just be her and be a phenom all star. I like those. That's a tough question. I don't know who I would pick. I think off the top of my head, Asia comes to mind also because Logan and I are about

the same height. I also would like to know what it's like to be tall. And then I think Asia really needs no explanation. Plus she's friends with Usher. So where's that? Let it burn baby! Let it burn! But for real, let's move on in serious, semi-serious note. The Indiana Fever have Freaky Friday'd their way from a 2 and 9 start to being in the 7th seed in the playoff race. Do you all think that Indiana could make a run this year in the playoffs? No. I think they can make like, maybe first round and they'd be like the Cinderella team and with the whole storyline with Caitlin Clark, that'd be perfect. Great. But they're

they're not winning. Fair. Fair. Okay, well then like, let's talk about a winning team for a second then. No, she's like, it would be a Cinderella story. I guess that'd be cool. It's like, yeah, who needs one? Who needs one? It's so, I just love it. I love it so much. Okay. Well, let's talk about the Liberty. They've been so dominant and they've unseated the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces as the favorites and at Draft Kings, they're a plus 150 to win it all. So do you all think this is a changing of the guard? Do we need to see the Aces win it for a third straight time or will the Liberty win? And then on that note, do they need to beat the Aces win it for a third straight time or will the Liberty win? And then on that note, do they need to beat the Aces in order

to make a run for the title? I think the Aces are so unpredictable because like every single year they've just been or I guess the past two years, they've been at the forefront the whole time and now they're dipping back. But they're also the type of team who, like after this week, could be like, OK, let's go win it. And they just go undefeated and like destroy everything. I don't know, I really see New York winning.

I kind of want them to win because although the ACEs parade and championship, like celebration has been really fun, I want to see another team, see if they could top that. I love seeing a three Pete, but like I would love to see, I just think they're sick, you know, like, but? But we also love an underdog, we also love change. That's what my social media algorithm is telling me. Change is good. So I'm down for either.

I'm down for either. But I think I'm also partial to it simply because of Ellie the Elephant. I'm just like, I just wanna see her do the sickest thing in a championship game. Let's talk about a little bit of change and we're moving over to a different sport. We're going to talk about NWSL because we have a big headline this week. San Diego Wave have hired a new interim head coach after parting ways with Casey Stoney.

They have brought on Landon Donovan, arguably the best men's player in U.S. history. So Landon recently coached San Diego loyal, a professional men's team that recently folded and were competing in USL championship. And he said that he's passed on four MLS jobs in the past, which makes this choice in NWSL and with the wave pretty interesting. And I know fans are confused by the choice. So Logan, I'm gonna start with you.

What do you think of this hire? I think considering they fired Casey Stoney midseason, it's like were they looking for a quick turnaround? I'm not too sure. But with that being said, his coaching resume isn't that great. Like the second I saw him, I went and looked. I was like, who? What has he done? Who is he coached? I need to see. There's not much. Like even with San Diego and MLS, he was like he went to executive president or something

He went from coaching to like a front office role So I'm interested to see how he's gonna coach this team and what was it that San Diego like hired him for with his background everything Odd time for it all to happen as well, but I don't know. Maybe he'll just perform a miracle. I don't like it. I but I don't know, maybe he'll just perform a miracle. I don't like it. I feel like Landon Donovan, I was like, oh, it sounds like a heartthrob in a 90s sitcom that would tell me I'm pretty when I take my glasses off.

You know, like I don't, I don't, all the stuff that I was reading up about him, like everything feels sus. It's like, oh, he's best friends with, he's best friends with the hiring manager and he lives 10 minutes. He's like, oh, I live 10 minutes from the field and I have a daughter. And it's like, okay, so it's like convenient. That's why you took the job. It seems like it's a convenient thing for everybody. The positive is

like looking at some of the stuff that happened in 2020 and watching them like, like walk off the field when there was a racial slur throwing at one of their players when there was a homophobic slur thrown at one of their players like that gives it a little bit of inspo for me of like, oh, like being a part of that organization stands for something good, you know, like there is like good in there. So I could see it maybe working but I don't know if I would never bring a coach in that coach for a couple of

years and then the whole thing folded and be like, we can do this. That's a crazy, that's a crazy jump to me. The moment Katie's speaking of is a couple of years ago in 2020 when he was managing San Diego loyal. There was a player on the opposing team who said a race, racial and homophobic slur. So one of the loyal players, and he absolutely did not stand for it. Walked off, was willing to forfeit the match. There was a whole video about it, too. So I think especially what the wave have been going through on the front office side.

I think Landon is definitely someone who will advocate for his players. And I hope that it's a move that is intentional and has the purest of intentions. And I really hope that it is to help grow the women's game and not just an easy, oh, I got the job. That's 10 minutes from my house. And so this is a great new move for me. But we will see what happens with the land and Donovan area in San Diego. Wave coming up, Rosgold and what is back to discuss all things WNBA.

We'll be right back. Welcome back to Good Follow. Joining us today is friend of the show and WNBA analyst, Roz Golden-Wooday. Roz, it's always so wonderful to have you on. How are you today? I'm great. Even better being here with you. You know I love, you know, catching up with y'all. It's Wednesday, Wednesday, wine and W. Did you bring the wine? No, but we can pretend that's crazy. And I thought we were going

to have a wine sponsor by now. Megan, we're working on it. Okay. We're going to get there. Just wait. You know, I'll put my mind to this. We'll have a wine, a W wine Wednesdays for sure. You like that, Logan? Oh my gosh. I'm so in. She's in. Well, let's get into it. Roz. We all watched Gabby Williams almost single handedly take down the USA at the Paris Olympics. Now that she is returning to Seattle, do you think that the Storm belong in the title

conversation? You know, I think they are in the title conversation as far as talent. You know, the biggest question will be, can they mesh fast enough? Because talent goes a long way, but so does continuity, so does chemistry. But one thing that she definitely brings to the team is more depth on both ends. She's a two way player. I think especially defensively, that's a tough defensive lineup with Gabby and Ezzy and Nneka because Gabby just had a great Olympic tournament. She comes out as named the top defensive player in the Olympic tournament after winning the silver.

So, that's a nice influx of that for this team. And the other thing I like about Gabby Williams joining the Storm, they all kind of have this edge about them. There's a similar storyline there that's like a chip on their shoulder. In one way or another, maybe they've been slept on or had an opportunity that was missed,

or maybe they're misunderstood as a team. And I think sometimes that can be really something to lean in on as a team to have chemistry and bond. And the Liberty just became the first team to clinch a playoff berth. At DraftKings, they are the new favorite to win the title and the Aces are right behind them. This is a huge shift right now.

Who do you have, Liberty or aces? Oh, well, first of all, you guys know I'm very close to the New York Liberty. I watch them all the time as their team broadcaster and analyst. And my opinion in watching this team very closely is that today, as of right now, the New York Liberty are the best team in the WNBA. It's shown by their record, you know, by the standings, but also by what you view on the court and watching them. They legitimately have three first team all WNBA players on their team. Full stop. John Quayle Jones, Sabrina Yonescu and Brianna Stewart, three first team all WNBA players. Then the next thing, they had a nice litmus test recently coming out of the Olympic break. They

played the aces straight on. And this is the second time that they've now beaten the aces on the road. But this time, you know, everyone was healthy, full rosters coming off a rhythm of the Olympic break. And I think what was significant for the Liberty to take away from that win was that they were able to show that they could be the dominators on the glass, that they were the physical team, that they were the team that could get serious and get some stops. Against the defending champs in the second quarter, they held them to eight points. Like that's the defending champs. That's nothing to sneeze at.

So the Liberty really showed that they're a gritty defensive physical team, which I think is an important identity for them to have. And then the really important and final thing I'll point out for the Liberty is their depth is really explosive and has been a revelation this season. One of the biggest X factors they have outside of the star power that they have is that

players like Kayla Thornton and Leonie Fiebesch are role players that could come off the bench. They could start if you need them. They're both huge, like got a lot of size and length and physicality on defense and on offense. They're playmakers. They could stretch the court. They could shoot the three. In fact, the entire Liberty bench, y'all, is very big in general. You got Kennedy Burke coming off the bench. She's big and versatile. You got Nyara Sabali, who is healthy and big

and versatile and high IQ. That's a lot of depth, size, toughness, all up and down the Liberty roster. I think they are, at this very moment, the best team in the W. Last week on the show, I asked Logan at this point in the season who she thinks would win the championship, and she said the Liberty. Oh, so you like what are your thoughts? Why? Oh, I completely agree. I think they're just like they're having their season and they're fully

dominating and even just watching them play. It's like they look like a completely different team than last year. But while just listening to you talk, I had the question, what do you think the differences between the team last year and this year? Because the roster is pretty similar. Yeah, I mean, they had the star power last year. So now it's about the continuity and the chemistry. I think when they fell short to the Aces last season, especially in that finals, I mean, the Aces came to the Liberty home court in Brooklyn at Barclay Center, two players injured and down,

starters, and they still pulled it off. And I think that their chemistry, their closeness made the difference. And the Liberty didn't have that yet. And now they do. This is a team that is super poised. Things don't go their way. They got the resolve to handle it. And as I mentioned before, their depth, their bench unit is an X factor. We didn't know what that bench unit was going to be coming into the season. We literally didn't. It was mad new faces on the bench this season for the Liberty. But what we're seeing right now, oh no, they for real, those are some real players on the bench. The Liberty are so deep.

We know the Liberty may be the favorite, but we know the Connecticut Sun also will not make it easy on them. Roz, do you think that they can finally get over the hump? Can the Connecticut Sun get off over the hump? Um, I think they, they have the potential to do it this season. I really do. You know, they've always been close. They're a team that can get to the semis, a team that's been to the finals twice recently.

Like, um, the difference has been talent. Sometimes they stall out on offense. And this year they have more of it and influx. You know, everything starts and stops and goes with Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner. But they get back a healthy Bree Jones, who's had an all-star season. Big, big deal to have her back. The jump that my girl, DeJaneh Carrington,

is having this season in confidence and understanding you know how to impact the game and scoring on both ends of the court offense and defense. She loves to be a stopper. And then now adding recently adding Marina Mayberry that is an offensive explosion for the Connecticut Sun. So you've got a lot of talent influx and I think that'll help them. But I mean ladies we know when it comes to the Connecticut Sun and especially in the playoffs, it's about style of play. It's about they like to muck the game up, make it physical, play some hard defense, make it ugly. It's low scoring.

And that's really tough come playoffs. But I think that could help them get over the hump this year. Last week, when I asked Logan the question about who she thinks would win championship and she said the Liberty and then she on social media in the comments said actually I she felt bad because she forgets about the Sun. So Logan I'll give you this space as we're having this conversation on why you think the Sun are also a contender. Yeah I feel like they're actually quite slapped on like for some reason they're always a team that I'm like I don't know you think about them a lot when you see them play you you're like, oh my God, they're good. But at the same time, maybe it's just me, they kind of slipped my mind. But I'm so shocked and I think it's telling how good they are that last night, Duana Bonner was coming off

of the bench. Yes. And I just think like now they have that whole well rounded unit and they've always kind of been at the front at the top and like making the jump but it hasn't they haven't really come together yet and I think this is their year to do that. If New York wasn't playing as well as they are then I'd say that is Connecticut's year for sure. I really agree with the point about Dawana Bonner her willingness to do whatever the team needs potentially come off the bench this is a a champion, this is a veteran, and just to help the team figure out what lineups will help the best.

Absolutely, and I mentioned the Aces a few minutes ago, but I wanna come back to them. They have the second best odds to win the finals, but as of recording, they're fourth in playoff standings, which is the lowest that they've fallen in a few years, and they just kinda don't look like the aces that we typically see. Do you think we're watching the end of their complete domination? Oh, the drama, the drama of it all.

My goodness. Oh, jeez. Y'all call it on their downfall. That's crazy. Not the end. That's crazy. Not the end. That's crazy. No, but I, I ain't worried about the aces. I'm not worried about, I'm really not. I think the aces are the aces are the aces and I think championship experience goes a long way. I think chemistry goes a long way and we all know talent goes a long way that that that core four That's for Olympians right there and they're led by the the the front runner for MVP I think you know you get to a playoff situation and that's still a handful to have to handle for any team

You know where the Aces I think have some spots to worry is the same storylines we've had the last two seasons with them. It's depth. You know, what happens after that core four and especially on the interior, you know, Chelsea, Kelsey and Jackie are tremendous on the wings and as guard players. But outside of Asia, you know, it's going to there are teams that can put pressure on the Aces on the interior. As we saw, the New York Liberty did most recently thoroughly out

rebounding them points in the paint. I think the Seattle Storm could do that. I think the Connecticut Sun. So these are question marks. But one thing about the Aces, they love an us against the world storyline. Like they love it. they feed off of it. They're probably looking for something to further bond them. You know, they're still going through legal issues

as a team and we've been following the headlines with that. So never count the aces out. I literally said earlier in the show, they're the type of team where they can just have a team chat tomorrow and be like, wait, I think now it's go time. Like let's go win this. And they absolutely will. Like their chemistry is so good. Right. It's definitely Asia in the group chat. Who's like, all right, let's go. Now it's time. Now it's time. And then it's Sid in the group chat who like sends a meme to be funny or something. I would love to be part of that group chat.

Girl, you and me both. We kind of are on Twitter because they're all really public about everything. I mean, following along. Yeah, their group chat's public. Well, the Indiana Fever have had a hot start to the second half of their season, and with the second easiest remaining schedule in the league, they could maybe make a strong run to the playoffs. What would you want to see from this Fever team, Roz, in order for them to make a run

through the playoffs? I mean, they just got to keep up the same momentum right now. They came out of the Olympic break really strong. And actually, the other side of the question is an interesting one. Like, do you want to see the Indianaever come playoff time? And absolutely not. Absolutely not. First of all, guys, the historical significance of the Fever this team making the playoffs would be they haven't been there since 2016, since Tamika Catchings retired. This young team with the wind in their hair,

wind on their back, they're just high flying, playing with house money. Like I don't care who you are as a top seed, you don't wanna see this Indiana Fever team. And it's not just Caitlin Clark, who is their leader and will be devastating, has been devastating. It's also Kelsey Mitchell, you got an all-star player there.

That's a bucket. Aliyah Boston looks improved. I mean, this is a former number one pick and her and Kaitlyn are in tandem, looking more and more in rhythm. This team plays fast. They play free. They're a lot of fun.

And oh, and think about this scenario too with the WNBA playoffs. So the top seed gets the first two games at home. But then God forbid that top seed splits with the Indiana fever. And then you got to go home for that decisive third game to Indiana on their home court with all of those Caitlin Clark crazies. And it's going to be a capacity standing room only crowd. It's going to be pandemonium in Indiana. Should they make it to the playoffs and force a game

three against the top seed? It's going to be nuts. And you, I don't care who you are as top seed, any of them top seeds don't want to see that. So you have them as a dark horse. Do not sleep on Indiana is what Roz is saying. No. I mean, if they make it into the playoffs is what I'm saying that I would hate to see them. Another component is like, playoff Caitlin Clark is a different breed. I mean, we saw it when she was in college. She just turns into a different human being, a different player. And like, yeah, she's had so much pressure on her throughout the season, but it's playoff time. And if she wants to literally get it done, she could probably like do it.

She same with Aliyah Boston, honestly, we've seen it happen, but they've just kind of needed the moment to do it in the W. And I think it, yeah, as you said, it would be incredible. And for it to be at home, I could not imagine. And even that skips a step too, because technically if they make it to the playoffs, they could win a best of three series by winning the first two games on the road. But that'd be really hard against an upper seed because they're fighting for a lower seed in. But so I'd imagine their best chance of being pesky would be to split the first two and then bring it home to that home crowd. And that's where the drama begins. Logan, you like drama too,

I could tell. Oh, I love it. I love it. I could tell. And speaking of Caitlin Clark, she had a bit of a rough start to her career, but she's looked totally different since the W return. After some much needed rest, do you think we're about to see her on a whole different level, even without the playoffs? Oh, yeah. No, no, no. Caitlin Clark is that girl. She is, and she's having a fantastic rookie season. And she is not hype. She's delivering.

I think she's going to be everything we thought she's going to be. And I think she might even exceed our expectations. She's going to be a really special player in the WNBA. And perhaps, you know, not being put on the Olympic team, being snubbed might have been a blessing in disguise because it really gave her the time, a month break, to first just gather herself, rest, and then work on her game, work on her body, work on her game, work on her body, work on her timing, work on watching film.

And she's come out the gates and looked really confident. She's taken her team with her. The entire team looks more in sync. And the one critique I keep hearing popping up about Caitlin Clark as well, She turns over the ball. And I'm like, that is such a lacking analysis in my opinion, because it, you know, cause I'm like, it's so short sighted is a better word. When you look at the overall positive impact

she's bringing the game and anybody who's played the game or watches it at a high level would understand how hard it is to be a point guard on any level, but certainly as a rookie in the pro league, turnovers were gonna come with this. Not to mention, you know, it's not just Kaitlyn who had to adjust and learn and grow. So her teammates did too.

She didn't come to a team of stars and veterans. They're young, their coach is only in the second year in. They had a whole new system. They're learning each other, they're learning themselves. And Caitlin is making all of that go. She's the one stirring the pot. And so I'm just like, y'all gotta have some vision to see what was possible.

Y'all so stuck on turnovers, but that can be improved over time and with work. So yeah, Caitlin's on her way to being really special. Well, we can use this conversation to segue into a topic that I know that you like to spend some time talking about. So we're going to get into it. Let's talk MVP. Asia probably has MVP locked up, but it is also impressive that Caitlin Clark is now tied for the second best odds of winning MVP. So you kind of mentioned she's not hype. Caitlin is who she is. She is that girl. Do you think it's fair that she's getting this hype? Or do you think it's

because she's Caitlin Clark? And then the third question on that is who do you think is MVP at this moment in time? Right. So are you asking me if Caitlin Clark should be the number two candidate for MVP under Asia Wilson? Mm hmm. Oh boy. Listen, I just came off of a literal like monologue about how great Caitlin's been this season. And I say all that to say she's not one of the top candidates for MVP though. And I think it my reason why is just team success. I think there's a great storyline.

I think she's the front runner and has separated herself as rookie of the year. But I think that there are other candidates that not only have impacted higher levels of team success, but are also having individually great seasons. So, you know, for me, it starts and stops with Asia Wilson at this point of the season and, you know, all of the ways on offense and defense that she leads this team with

her game, but also as an emotional leader. Statistically, she's having a significant season statistically, which I also think is important in an MVP conversation and all of the categories that she's either one or number two in. And with all of that responsibility, still shooting at a high field goal percentage clip, really impressive for Asia. I think there's an, so Asia, and then there's another step now for the MVP conversation.

And I think the next rung is kind of the, the New York Liberty girls, you know, it's Sabrina Onescu, it's Brianna Stewart, it's John Quayle Jones. The hard part of that is as somebody who watches the Liberty and covers them and calls their games, it's really hard to say just one is the reason why. You know, so it's kind of like MVP by committee there. So that's a little bit that kind of makes the conversation a little tough.

I think the next I think right around here is where Caitlin could come in, perhaps as somebody who's in the conversation because of her importance to her team and the impact on winning. But the person that I think is not getting enough conversation for MVP, conversation is Nafisa Collier. You look at Nafisa Collier, she's got, statistically,

she's been one of the high performing players in the W. The Lynx as a team are having a great season. She makes impact on both ends of the court, on offense, her versatility, on defense. I'll give you an example. During the Commissioner's Cup, which the Lynx won this season over the New York Liberty, it actually was Nafisa's defense against John Quayle Jones that stood out to me. It really limited John Quayle Jones's impact. And the links have frustrated

John Quayle and the Liberty on multiple occasions now. So I think her defense, and then you talk about most valuable to a team. So the aces are stacked, the Liberty are stacked, but you look at the Lynx, that's a nice squad, but you take Nafisa Collier off the Lynx and they're not a contender, game changer. She is so valuable to their ability to contend. So we need to be giving more flowers to Nafisa. That girl is a, she's a, she's a bad woman.

She's a, Nafisa, I see you girl. You doing your thing. People need to talk about you more. And I like your perspective on that. And before we close, Logan, what are your thoughts on Caitlin being second in the MVP conversation as far as on the odds? I feel like on this show,

people are going to think I'm a Caitlin Clark hater, but I'm just trying to keep it real Like I feel like we kind of put her on a pedestal too much like she does. She's an amazing player She's an amazing person like she deserves all the hype that she's getting But when it comes down to it like her versus the rest of the league I feel like some people are just reaching a little bit. I think second. Yeah is like way too high There's also like the rookie of the year and And at this point, we know she's going to get it. So she's already getting an award and I think there's just other players who are out playing. She's not missing out.

Fans can't be mad. Like girl, I thought you had enough. That's enough. Roz, thank you so much for joining us on Good Follow. As always, we love talking with you and learning from you. Oh my gosh. I love being here. I'm not coming back though, unless there's wine next time. All right. This is pink. No pinkies here because we've been manifesting RW and wine night for a while. Thank you. Coming up, Katie, Logan and myself play a new game. We'll be right back. Welcome back into Good Follow and we have a good follow this week and let me tell you who it is. It's Jules LeBron, the TikToker whose videos explaining how to be demure and mindful have completely taken over the internet, our lives, and our vocabulary. And even the White House paid

homage to the meme in an Instagram post. I thought we were still having brat summers and maybe we're having both. But before we play our game, Logan, can you please explain to those who are not familiar or are completely lost what being brat and what being Demure means. All right, so brat came from Charlie XCX album called a brat and it's pretty much being messy, being unhinged, but like in a good way, having fun with it. You have the mindset of being honest, blunt, straight to the point, kind of keeping it classy, like keeping it kind of together, but like in a very chaotic way. I would say I've had a brat summer. Missing an earring.

You come home, your makeup is all smudged. Maybe you've lost a shoe somewhere. That's all about being brat. And demure is actually quite the opposite, but I want to let Jules explain it, so watch this video. You see how I do my makeup for work? Very demure, very mindful. I don't come to work with a green cut crease. I don't look like a clown when I go to work. I don't do too much. I'm very mindful while I'm at work.

See how I look very presentable? The way I came to the interview is the way I go to the job. A lot of you girls go to the interview looking like Marge Simpson and go to the job looking like Patti and Sel go to the job looking like Patty and Selma. Brat Summer and being demure and mindful, taking over the internet and now the two memes are going to collide in a new game we're going to play here on Good Follow called Demure or Brat. And the rules are very simple. We're going to bring up a few stories that have been happening in the women's sports

world and decide is this demure or is this Brat? So first up, we haven't talked enough about Reagan, the Australian break dancer who broke the internet with her routine, with her routine, if you want to call it that at the Olympics. Some people weren't fans, but some were including Australian UFC fighter, Casey O'Neil, who broke out a celebration that paid homage to the break dancing. I don't even know if you would call Reagan an icon to the break dancer. So let's take a look at this video. What a moment for King KC O'Neil. Is the dance in itself and KC celebration brat or demure?

Everything is Brat. Yes, that is the best thing I've ever seen. It's not mindful and it's not cutesy at all. No, it is not. It is not mindful. It's a very big choice. We don't even have the time to get into the whole Reagan scandal, but we're just going to go with Brat.

Next up, we've all been following USA gymnast Jordan Childs, who had her medal stripped and was given to Romania's Anna Barbosu. However, while the appeal is being sorted, Childs has no plan to return the actual medal. Commentator and former US gymnast Laurie Hernandez has a different opinion, ultimately saying it's time for her to give the medal back. Is Jordan Jordan Childs keeping the medal demure or brat? I think it's brat. I think what's her Lori. Lori is trying to be demure.

She's trying to be trying to go down the middle. She's trying to be diplomatic. And Jordan's like, no, this this is mine. You guys messed up. I think what the IOC did, the fact that Jordan has to give back her medal, it's giving brat. But the fact that there's also repercussions for not giving back your medal, I think you'd be demure. Give it back. Just, I don't know.

I don't even know how you deal with that situation. But to give it back would be Demure. I feel like Jordan Keefing it still isn't Bratt, but it's not Demure. Well, she's being authentic. It's in between because I mean, based on your definition, being Bratt is being a little bit messy. Yeah. And as you mentioned, there are repercussions if she doesn't, which includes the IOC potentially

banning her from future Olympic Games and international competitions. So by refusing to give it back, knowing that that is a repercussion is a little bit brat. But yeah, I don't know where that one really falls. It's a steep punishment for something that they messed up. Well let's move on. After winning the Cincinnati Open, tennis player, Irina Savalinka, slipped up when thanking her significant other. Let's watch this video. Thank you to have you by my side and of course thank you especially thank you to my boyfriend's boyfriend. I said boyfriend, oh my gosh.

That's my terrible English guys. Thank you to my boyfriend to keep me happy every day. Yeah, thank you so much. Thank you. Is this slip up brat or demure? I will say I've been a huge fan of arena since before she was even like ranked within the top 50. I just I saw her a few years ago and I was like, all right, she's going to be the one. And every single thing that she does is brat. She's just a brat girlie. Like even down to the Australian Open trophy pictures when she won, I think it was the year before last, she was like on a boat like going through a garden and still like doing poses and like had the champagne. It was so cute. Love her but it's giving Brad. Brad Summer for sure.

Even if it wasn't a slip up and she's got two guys on her call sheet. Like, live your life, dude. You're killing it. Brat all the way. Consensus brat. Okay. Next up, during a mic'd up moment, Caitlin Clark was heard hyping up her teammate, Alia Boston. Let's watch this video. Is Caitlin brat or demure? Very mindful. Very cutesy. Is Caitlin brat or Demure? Very mindful, very cutesy. Very mindful. You see how she hypes up her teammate? She's showing up to work professionally, authentically. Very encouraging. She's not like you other girls. It's just so cute. I loved it. Demure, finally! All right, we got one. Last up, let's check out this video of Kristin Press running onto the pitch for the first time after two years and four surgeries from an ACL tear.

US women's national team legend Angel City essentially built that franchise around her and then before like two matches into their first season tour, her ACL is now coming back. Is Kristen powering through her adversity, Brat or Demure? I just had like, I was going to say Demure. It's very Demure, very mindful of the fans. I mean, it's Kristen Pressett of all people. But at the same time, I was thinking like, if I was in that position at that point, I just say, I'm going to hang up the cleats. I'm so sorry, but maybe it's not my time to come back and shine. So in that case, maybe it's giving like brat.

She went through the whole like two years of just trying to get back to this point, probably doing as much as she could. And she did still have fun. I was definitely keeping up with her. I'd have to maybe go demure just for like the fans and the Angel City part of it. Yeah, maybe if she brought a giant blow up sign of her ACL x-ray tear as she was running around, that would be Brat. You'd be like, look at this shit, I came back.

But it's very mindful of her past. Well, this game was fun. We'll see how long this trend lives on. We may have to do Brat or Demure again. But coming up after the break, we talk the return of NWSL and I give my DraftKings picks of the week. Welcome back to Good Follow and it's now time for this week's DraftKings picks. We're excited to welcome back the NWSL season this weekend and the game I'm excited for is Seattle Reign hosting North Carolina Courage on Sunday at 10 p.m. Eastern.

This is a special match because NWSL and U.S. women's national team legend Megan Rapinoe will be the first ever Reign player to have their jersey retired. They host a Courage side who sit at sixth on the table and are well positioned to clinch the playoffs. And I'm picking NC Courage to Rain on the party in Seattle. I'm also picking Courage's Ashley Sanchez as a player to watch. She has four goals on the season and leads her team in assists and chances created. Logan, who or what are you most excited to see as we come into the second half of the season and leads her team in assists and chances created. Logan, who or what are you most excited to see as we come into the second half of the season? I'm so excited to see Orlando's

run and if they can continue to be the only undefeated team. Right before the break we saw Kansas City lose to them and that was just so big because they were both two undefeated teams. So I want to see A, if Orlando can hold it up and B, who's going to be the team to beat them? Let's also talk about some of the better teams on the towards the top of the table. Washington Spirit and Kansas City current, who you mentioned Casey was on a hot streak, lost Orlando Pride, which is a bummer, but also one loss on the whole season is no blemish in your record.

They play each other on Sunday. They respectively sit Spirit at second. Third is Casey Currant. Do you think this match on Sunday has playoff implications? It is so interesting because Washington has the same amount of wins as Orlando, even though they're in third place. And for a while they actually had the most wins in the league. So I think they're definitely like kind of a sleeper team. They were sleeper team and they're definitely like up at the top now. When it comes to Kansas City, they're just so dominant and powerful. And with the offseason pickups, like everybody is just a little bit better

than when we last saw them. So I think so for sure. And I think it's going to be so good. And I'm so excited. And they've had I mean, yes, we've had the Summer Cup and a lot of the players, they've still been training. They the time off during the Olympics hasn't been time to vacation. Well, they have rightfully so vacation.

But this rest, I think, will prove all these teams well. And it's almost are we starting with a clean slate is what I think we're going to see. And what I'm really excited for is to see, I want to see more Messiah bright. So Messiah, speaking of Orlando, was traded from Orlando to Angel City in the off season. And she had a hell of a rookie year in 2023, was nominated as rookie of the year,

essentially she lost to Gotham's Jenna Niswonger, was traded to Angel City. And there was a lot of excitement around having Messiah in that Angel City front line. And we haven't seen that much of her, to be honest. Angel City hasn't really used her. And last week in a friendly against FC Juarez, she had a hat trick and was just in full Messiah bright form. I can't even reach for it, but I actually have a Messiah bright candle down here,

like one of those like worship candles. I just want to see more of her in the second half of the season. And maybe it'll I don't know, maybe it'll do what Angel City needs. But I don't know. I'm really excited to see how this shapes out. And on that note as well, Gotham has six U.S. Olympians on its roster, which is wild, six U.S. Olympians, but that doesn't even include the other international players that they had playing in the Olympics. Do you think they should be higher

than the fourth seed in NWSL? On paper, absolutely. Especially with someone like Ann Kutrenberger in net, and we just saw the run that she had at the Olympics, was so good. But something about this season before the break, they just weren't clicking offensively to score the goals. Their defense was there, but their plus minus was always zero or one.

I think when they come together and score goals, then they're going to be up there really competing with Washington and KC and Orlando. But they just need to get it going. I'm not too sure how they are going to do that. So with the time we have left in the show and while we're staying on this talk of soccer, I want to talk about expansion teams. The league has made it clear they intend to expand and add two more teams in 2026.

Boston has already been awarded one of those two spots. And recently, Cincinnati met with the league to present their offerings for an expansion bid. Where would each of you like to see the 16th team added? Toronto. Of course you say that. I like that, okay, Toronto. But wait, how does that work then

with the new Canadian league? Yeah. I think, I mean, it could be like a little bit best of both worlds type situation. I think it'd be cool if we get like a lot of the Canadian players on a team and it'd be like a team Canada thing because I'm not too sure how many that are in the end of your sellers going to transfer to the new league. But in all seriousness, I want to see a team in like Wyoming or Montana, like someone with just like a beautiful backdrop. They could have beautiful jerseys.

I've also just really been wanting to go to Wyoming and Montana recently. Those are at the top of my head. As someone who grew up not that far from Montana, that's why I'm scratching my head. Because there's absolutely nothing there. They would have to have the biggest budget to pay players to come live in the middle of nowhere. Well, some of the other cities that have been in contention in conversation, Cincinnati, as we mentioned, Cleveland, Minneapolis, St. Paul, who have a USL W League

team in Minneapolis. Atlanta and Denver have also expressed serious interest in expanding. So Denver is quite close to Wyoming. That could put you a little bit somewhat towards the middle of nowhere in a beautiful landscape and jerseys. Katie, who do you think or where do you think the 16th team should go? Based on the the interested cities like these cities, I think.

I think Minneapolis, St. Paul would actually be really good, like that city shows up for their sports teams and they're a sports state. Like I think it would give them something to, I think they'd be really good fans and there's like it's a great area. You have like the, you do have beautiful lakes and up north. Yeah, like I think that would be really cool. And it's a bustling metropolis that just gets underrated across the board.

So I think that would be cool. Cincinnati, too, I think is up there. I think Denver gets too much. I want to see expand. And I want it expanded. I want something different. Give me something unique. I want it different. Give me something unique. I want it somewhere else.

Well, we're going to stay close to this conversation and to the storyline throughout its process. But we're going to move on to our good follow. As we all know, the foundation of this show is that communities get built one good follow at a time. And each week, one of us highlights a person, page or brand built one good follow at a time. And each week, one of us highlights a person, page or brand as the good follow of the week. And this week it is Logan's turn. So what do you have for us, Logan?

So my good follow of the week happens to be one of my friends, Fiorello Grande, aka Fiorello Doodles on Instagram. And her work is just amazing. She's a designer slash illustrator, mostly focusing on women's sports, and actually designed the first WNBA core in Canada, which is absolutely beautiful. Wow. When I first heard of it, I was like, what are we designing on a court?

But it is actually stunning. And all the colors just go together. She came up with the whole concept herself. And her art is so unique. She does videos walking through the creation process and just her mindset behind it. These prints are actually from her. Oh those are hers! Yeah they're so cute. Yeah and I have a few more that I'm going to start rotating out and everything but she just has such a creative mind and she's such an amazing human being,

so you definitely have to go check out her work and her content because they're both just incredible. I have a lot of white space on these walls. I'm gonna look immediately. I love that! So that's my Good Follow of the Week. Everyone go follow Fiorella, aka Fiorelladoodles. Logan, thank you for sharing your Good Follow with us. And we want to hear from our fans. Who is your Good Follow? Send us your nominations at Good Follow Show and tell us why we should feature them.

Good Follow is brought to you by DraftKings. We'll see you next week. Thanks for watching!