Power Players

Players and coaches from 3 WNBA teams (LA Sparks, Dallas Wings, and Washington Mystics) discuss: In a new, and different style podcast than what you're used to, the athletes listed below discuss: 1. Advantages/disadvantages of playing in the WNBA's 'Wubble' at IMG Academy in Florida 2. What activities unstructured time 3. The food 4. Must-Pack items 5. And so much more! PLAYERS Nneka Ogwumike Seimone Augustus T’ea Cooper Moriah Jefferson Chelsea Gray Nneka Bella Alarie Katie Lou Samuelson Brittney Sykes Sydney Weise Candace Parker Satou Sabally Megan Gustafson Reshanda Gray Alaina Coates COACHES Brian Agler Mike Thibault

“I didn’t want to be one of those people that hung around and tarnished what I had built in my career if I wasn’t all in it. I’m either 100% in or 100% out and, at that point, I knew I had to be out… because I wasn’t 100% in. 80% is not good enough.” - Miesha Tate From cupcakes to the evolution of the female talent pool in MMA and from Tacoma to Singapore: Miesha Tate like you’ve never heard her before: open, honest, and vulnerable about life in and beyond the octagon. Miesha talks about character building in her high school wrestling career- on the mat and at home, her most poignant “pick-yourself-off-the-floor” moment, and if she saw her retirement from UFC coming. Tate takes the listener inside her inside-the-Octagon cognitive awareness and discusses moments of self-reflection after retirement. There's also a Bathroom Birth: a play by play. For the FIRST time, Miesha Tate talks about how her son Daxton took stay-at-home orders to a new level…. By being born in her bathroom... followed by a deep discussion on life’s little surprises and on motherhood. There’s a transparent dialogue about, of course, Ronda Rousey. * Symbiotic relationship with Ronda Rousey: who benefitted more from it? * After believing that she and Ronda would enter the HOF together, what did Miesha Tate think about Rousey’s induction speech? * Was it real? * Communication post-MMA career Currently, what was item number one on VP Tate’s agenda for One Championship, what is the longterm scope of the league, and a discussion about how cultural norms and lifestyle compare the opportunity of female MMA fighters in Asian culture against that of Western female fighters. LISTENER QUESTIONS: * Kevin in NJ: Did you ever think about joining the WWE like Lesnar and Rousey? * Mike from Queens: One Championship - What’s the biggest difference between being involved in a match in Asia vs USA?

“You’re always going to come across somebody, at some point in your career, that doesn’t really think you belong there [but] you’ll come across way more that think you do-which is the great part about where the sport is heading.” - Venessa Hutchinson I talked with Venessa Hutchinson, the NFL’s Senior Manager of Football Development, about a wide-range of topics relating to the NFL's diversity in hiring practices, specific to women in football.  We discussed her career path- demanding respect from predominantly male coworkers and former players, learning the game of football so intricately without playing it so competitively, and the most rewarding part about being an integral piece of the NFL's league office. Most importantly, we'll discuss the Annual Womens’ Careers in Football Forum: * Qualifications to get accepted into the program * About 100 participants from the Forum have been hired- a testament to the networking available at the Forum * Ways to make yourself, a potential candidate, stand out to a team * Which coaches absolutely jump at the opportunity to come to the Forum and cultivate a culture of tolerance for women in football? * In which areas would you like to see the program grow? * Women in media branch to it soon? We'll also tackle: * Scouting * The eventuality of a woman making a team: and will it be Carli Lloyd? * The viability of canceling the entire preseason schedule * Roster repercussion concerns for an entirely scrapped preseason: bubble guys and rookie quarterbacks * Will there, one day, be a “Rooney Rule” for women in football? * What do head coaches like Ron Rivera and Mike Vrabel do to set up cultures of tolerance in their own locker rooms? The 3 “arms” of NFL Football Operations 1. Player Safety: Potential adjustments to the draft and the scouting combine to make sure that all players, including those in COVID-affected collegiate programs 2. Officiating: My solution- is making officials full-time employees of the league an option? 3. Long-Term Success of the league: plan of action to include female fans LISTENER QUESTIONS: * Bill in Massachusetts: How far away are we from seeing a woman in the NFL as a player? * Jay from New Jersey: Who of your peers, maybe even from the Women’s Careers in Football Forum, whose impact we need to know more about? * Jim from Massachusetts: When do we see the first female offensive or defensive coordinator in the NFL? * Bob from Nutley: Does the NFL really think it could keep all players, coaches, and staff COVID-free? More info: https://operations.nfl.com/football-ops/economic-social-impact/womens-careers-in-football-forum/ [https://operations.nfl.com/football-ops/economic-social-impact/womens-careers-in-football-forum/]

“People like a comeback story.” - Denise White A young girl and her twin sister overcome a rough childhood and the foster care system- one starts her own company and becomes the most powerful athlete crisis manager in the world. It sounds like something out of a movie, right? Well that's because it WILL be.  Three A-List celebrities were considered to play Denise White... and one chose her. This celebrity will not only be playing her in an upcoming movie, but has contracted a TV show, inspired by Denise's work, for her production company and Apple TV. The movie, preliminarily titled "The Fixer", is based on the life of Denise White, founder of EAG Sports Management (1996): an agency (the only one of its kind owned by a woman) that provides crisis management, philanthropic ventures, media engagements, etc. for world class athletes. We'll tackle: * Athletes being "more than athletes" today... and how that coincides with 'using their platform' to initiate change.. while possibly creating divisiveness within their respective sports * But what about those that use 'company time' to do so? * How the advent of social media (and the 24-hour news cycle) has drastically changed her industry * Denise takes us into the crisis management 24/7 playbook: jarring middle-of-the-night calls, evidence mounted against her clients, preventative measures, and cases she would NOT take on * Is "all publicity 'good publicity'"? * Business morals and ethics * Denise opens up about her propensity to want to "fix" these athletes * Erin Brockovich advises the adviser * Denise responds to some heartfelt compliments by some of her clients in the media over the years: Tyrann Mathieu, DeSean Jackson, and Ephraim Salaam. * ...and SO much more!!

“Just thinking that I lost this love of my life was something that I was really having a hard time to come to terms with.” - Amanda Kessel Olympic gold and silver medal winning professional hockey player Amanda Kessel and Danielle McCartan have an open conversation about Amanda’s concussion-related mental health struggles and discuss a pragmatic plan to grow the women’s game efficiently and effectively. What took the NHL so long to get involved? Furthermore, we’ll contrast the way of life of NHL players (of which Amanda has intimate knowledge: her brother Phil Kessel is alternate captain of the Arizona Coyotes AND she is a New York Rangers ambassador) to that of professional women’s league. Amanda outlines the impetus behind the 200+ player boycott of the NWHL and USA Hockey. We'll also tackle: * NHL’s return to play plan * A deep dive into concussion-related depression * Competitiveness in the Kessel household * Playing on boys teams * The manifestation of statistical growth in girls hockey by being a New York Rangers hockey ambassador * Being part of NHL's All-Star weekend 2019 * What would a W-NHL look like? * AK28 clothing line * ...and SO much more!! A listener question from Joe in Long Island: Would a 12 team women's league (2 six team divisions) and a 54 game schedule be plausible?