GOOD FOLLOW - Ros Gold-Onwude on the WNBA Rookies plus USWNT Roster Reactions & More
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Welcome to Good Follow presented by Giraffe Kings. I'm Megan Reyes. And I'm Katie Novotny. What's up, Meg? Yes, yes, I'm doing great. How are you doing? I'm good. I am in my new home studio. So welcome to Remote Good Follow. It looks fantastic. I love the ocean in the background. Yeah. You know, sometimes you need a little bit of a

Like the tides. Yeah. Can you hear it? Can you hear the ocean waves coming through? I can hear a lot of things, but I have ADHD. So...

Well, I am so excited because joining us today for some WNBA talk is Roz Gold and Wode. Roz led Stanford to three Final Four and two National Championship appearances and spent a year on the Nigerian women's basketball team. She is currently a WNBA and MNBA analyst. Roz, thank you for joining us here again. And let's get right into it. We're thrilled to have you back. How are you?

I'm doing great. I'm so excited to be back with you. And this time we're doing a little remote kind of energy here. Okay, let's dive in, shall we? I think it's been a big week in the WNBA. But let's start with the Commissioner's Cup that came to an end on Tuesday with a very exciting championship game between the Lynx...

And the Liberty. And so despite a late push by New York and 20 plus point games from Brianna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu, Minnesota held on, pulled out the win. Roz, how big of a statement did the Lynx make by taking down the top team slash your team?

Yeah, that's right. I do cover the New York Liberty. I am their game analyst. But I think this was a huge statement for the Minnesota Lakes. And it was a statement not only to the rest of the league, but also to themselves. You know, these early season, in-season tournaments, right? The Commissioner Cup. It's something tangible to hold on to. Yeah.

And especially, I think it's helpful to teams that are still figuring out what they can be over the course of the season. And so for a team like the Liberty who won the Commissioner's Cup last season, of course they want to win the Commissioner's Cup this season. But I know when talking with them, their goal is...

We've got to get back to the finals. We want to win that. So forgive me. I don't know if you've talked about this before, but are you a fan of these in-season tournaments? I know in other sports, some people have mixed thoughts on it. It's a lot of games. It's a lot of, you know, it's tiring for an athlete's body. Do you think that this is a good thing? Like you said, it's it helped Minnesota Minnesota prove something to themselves by having this in-season tournament. Are you a fan of these?

Yeah, so I think it adds urgency. It adds storytelling. It adds to the fandom experience during the WNBA season, certainly during the NBA season. This season's crazy because it's like a shorter season. You've got 40 games or so. You've got...

a condensed season because you've got a month long Olympic break, which is its own story within that. And then you also have the commissioner's cup, you know, mini break, but also like moment here to build up to. So I think,

You know, for a team like the Liberty, this is a nice chance to just continue to build habits. I think for them it was a healthy wake up call or a reminder call because the things that were exposed in the Commissioner Cup are things the Liberty already knew. Well, so with Minnesota leading the West and the Liberty leading the East as it stands today, Roz, do you think this is a preview of this year's W Championship game? Yeah, I think, you know, I think the Liberty look really good.

And so I'll start there. I think that the Liberty look like a team that made it to the finals last season with without a lot of continuity and without a lot of chemistry. And they were heart heartbroken in the finals by the aces who even through injuries in the end, I think their camaraderie, their closeness as a team helped them get over the edge to beat the Liberty.

sometimes pain is a quick unifier. It speeds up the pace to like gelling and being closer. And I think that this is a team in the Liberty that has the talent and now has the chemistry and even the unifying pain to, and hunger and desire to get back there. Are there any specific things that you see from the Liberty that they have to do if they want to get to the championship this year?

Yeah, I think, well, you know, one of the things that was going to be a key and an X factor for the Liberty, we already knew where that starting group was. We knew, you know, who Benajelaine Hamilton was. We knew who Sabrina was. We knew who Stewie was. We knew where John Quill was. We knew who Sloot was. But there was this whole, all the new in the team was in that secondary unit. So I think as long as there's like an identity coming out of like the second unit and there's more than that five, I think that'll really help come playoffs. Yeah.

And I'm really pleased with what I'm seeing from Sabrina Inescu. This girl has worked on getting to the paint all offseason, and her toolkit around the rim and her finishes and her footwork are absolutely showing that. She's having a breakout year. I mean, for an all-star, I think she's having a breakout from already a breakout. And they got like three legit players who you could talk about in the MVP conversation in Stewie, in Jonquell, and Sabrina. Yeah.

Well, actually, I was going to ask you that. Do you think this could be another MVP season for Stewie?

I think it'll be hard. I mean, first, I mean, I think it's possible again, you know, coming out of the Liberty, there's this three headed unit of players who from any given game can be the dominant or player or be the player. That's the catalyst to everything good that the Liberty are having. So that's John Quayle Jones. That's Sabrina UNSQ. That's Brianna Stewart. I love the way you asked about Stewie. I love the way she, you know, fills up a stat sheet.

whether the stat line shows it or not, Stewie is so important to like the steady heartbeat of what the Liberty are doing. But if we are having an MVP conversation, guys, it has to start with Asia Wilson, like Asia period, full stop. Like it's Asia and then everyone else. And I mean, you know, when I, when I think about it and I'm going to throw this question to you, I'm going to say, what makes you,

an MVP to you? Because this is where we get into arguments at the end of the season. And we start to say, well, okay, how do we decide what an MVP is? So I'm gonna start with y'all. What's your criteria of what makes an MVP? I think even if you look at the conversation over in men's basketball, there are people that felt like

Other people deserved MVP over Jokic, but I think the same applies here where an MVP is valuable because is that team sustainable without that person? So I like that. I put this on you because you're the expert. Could the Liberty succeed without Stewie? Likely. Could the Aces succeed without Asia? Look, both of these two teams have a luxury, a wealth of talent in the Aces and the Liberty, you know? So yeah,

If you really want to have that conversation, how well do the Lynx do without Nafisa Collier? I think we saw that about a season and a half ago or two seasons ago. But for Asia Wilson, you can't point to this season and how she's held down the fort while her team has had multiple injuries. An injury to Chelsea Gray, this is arguably one of the most important players on the team. She may not be the MVP of the league and of the Aces, but Chelsea is so important to winning.

So with her out, you know, with Jackie Young having missed time, like Asia held down the fort. So I think to your answer to your question, to make an MVP, it's importance to their team.

I think statistical significance is important to me in voting for an MVP and the success of a team, you know, like her team is still right there. You know, I think it was a little bit of a bumpy start, but this is still the aces. So I think for that reason, at this, you know, still relatively early point of the season, it's Asia and everybody else in the MVP conversation. Before we move on to Sky Fever, while we're still on the topic of Asia,

Her logo came out, her brand came out, and she is not the first woman athlete that we've seen starting to get their brands. However, it is very long overdue that she does get her own signature shoe. We've obviously seen Stewie, Sabrina, they got their shoes as well. Roz, is there anyone that you think still deserves their own signature shoe? Oh, there's a ton! What are we talking about? Let's hear it! It's like...

I mean, there's a bunch of great players, but I think like first and foremost, I just want to give props to Asia on like having her shoe come out, putting herself out there, having this cool logo, being creative. I made a face because I know there was like mixed reaction to the logo. Yeah.

So, I mean, I think that's part of being an artist too, you know? So I am going to joyfully come out and cop by whatever she's putting out, merch, sneakers, because it's been a long time coming.

Last Sunday, the Sky and Fever met for the third time this season. The Fever came into the series up 2-0. The Sky finally got their W. There's one more game between them this series. Roz, who is taking the last one? And what are your thoughts on this sort of new rivalry of sorts? I think, you know, the crowd was electric in Chicago last

I want to give props to Teresa Weatherspoon, who I think is the right coach for players and...

Angel Reese and Kennedy Carter and, and, you know, Camila Cardoso, you know, she's the coach that can hold you accountable. She's a coach that can breathe fire into you. She's the coach that also has been here. She was here for when the W was, was also feeling a moment like this at the start of the league and they playing at radio city musical and everything's big and popping. And, you know, you got all sorts of just all the same fire. She remembers that. And I also think she, she,

how to help these players navigate all that is coming with the attention and help them funnel that into producing on the court. And so I want to give props to Spoon and to both teams for stepping up. Props to the Fever who had a rough start. Then they finally got a break for

Like five days of practice in a row. And I think that was a good time for the fever to one, rest. Two, to practice. Three, to address the noise. You know, that was happening not only outside of their team, but also inside the team. And then come back and now they've just won four of the last five. Obviously, they just lost to Chicago.

So what I see in this group is just such resilience, such timeliness and gameliness. And I'm really impressed with that from a young group. And I think it shows, you know, we are in good hands, you know, as the league continues to go. This year's draft class was stacked. I want to talk more about...

Uh, what no one else, we're not taught. We're not, we're not going to do the Clark and the Reese. We know that we check those boxes. We all are aware, but talk about the rest of the class. Like how are they adjusting to the biggest stage? Like it is a amazing, amazing draft class. And we have like JC Sheldon, Aaliyah Edwards. Like what, who else? Let's talk about the rest of the women that deserve the, uh,

They deserve the airtime. Absolutely. I mean, you know, what a great game as well on that same stage in the Fever Sky game and Camila Cardoso, right? She had a double-double and I think she had missed a good chunk in the beginning of the season with injury. So now we're starting to see her maybe get that timing, understand what it's, you know, what it's like to play with her teammates, the rhythm, the professional game, right?

And again, like I said, I think we'll see more and understand more about her, especially after that, after the Olympic break and as the games continue to pile up under her belt. So like that's someone that's special. Hey, Kate Martin had a really admirable start to the season. And I thought, especially when the aces had a lot of injuries and she stepped in there and showed that she was prepared and

that she was tough, that she understand how to fill a role on the court, that she could stretch the court and knock down a shot, that she could be gritty on the defensive end. I thought that was a good showing for Iowa basketball, just that they're also producing coach blue to produce real hoopers. You know, I'm always looking at that, which programs are producing hoopers that translate. So that was cool for Kate. Um,

Speaking of programs, Stanford Women's Basketball. I mean, so we had a tough blow with Cameron Brink. And, you know, let's make sure we mention Rekia Jackson's name here, too, who's also having a great rookie season for L.A. And, you know, the team is struggling, but I'm looking for her to continue to shine and do her things. We must mention that name. But guys, I mean, if you're having a rookie conversation,

It's not just being tabloid minded. The conversation again is centered in Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. And what's fun about looking at the two of them as rookies in the center of this rookie of the year race is that

You've kind of got two styles of it. And it depends what kind of basketball fan you are, because they're both doing it. They're both crushing it. Like, you know, Caitlin is more high flying. She got the offensive stuff. She's going to pull it from deep. You know, she got the three point shot.

But really impressive as a rookie is her ability to create for others. She's figured out, you know, how to fill a stat line, her assists, her rebounding. All of that's very impressive. And now don't look now, but the fever haven't put some wins together. Right. But on the other side for Angel, it's a different kind of domination. Right. Because he's got now the what is it, eight double doubles in a row. She's one away from being in the conversation with Candace Parker. Right.

for tying her single second season record. Let me say that again. She's in the conversation of history books with Candace Parker. This is somebody that people did not expect. We expected Caitlin to be great. And she is having a really great rookie season. Okay. Make sure we understand that. But Angel, there was some doubt about her ability to translate. And one thing about Angel, she'll figure out, you know, how to slow the game down, how to get her field goal percentage. But boy, does she understand time.

Timeliness, winning plays, making it happen, toughness, offensive rebounding, finding a way to get the numbers up, whether it's off of an O-board or to the free throw line. Boy, is it hard to rebound in the WNBA, let alone as a rookie, let alone to do it 10 a game, multiple times, back to back to back to back to back to back to back. The consistency of it is insane for a rookie. The physicality of that, the toughness of that. When Angel Reese told Holly Roe,

I'm a dog and you can't teach that. I absolutely believed her. I believe her. I shook my head. I said, yes, you are. Yes. You know, she's a dog. You a dog. Yeah, you are angel. I believe it. But as you mentioned Cameron Brink, um,

Share with us your thoughts and reactions on De'Erica taking her spot at the Olympics and your overall thoughts on the three by three unit going into Paris 2024. Well, first of all, I really love three on three basketball as a sport in the Olympics. It's a different game. It's a lot of fun. It's much quicker. I could not be more thrilled for De'Erica Hamby. Like I couldn't. De'Erica is like amazing.

One of the girls, girls of the W in the sense that, you know, we know her, we know her kids, we know her daughter, like we have been following her journey. You know, she too has been through a lot as a mother. You know, obviously the move from, you know,

Vegas to LA was emotional for her. And like for her to now, you know, gather herself, come up with her latest pregnancy, emerge as one of the leaders and stars for LA. And then to be rewarded in this way with the opportunity in the Olympics, couldn't be more thrilled for her. I hope she goes out there and crushes it and enjoys it. Well, Roz, thank you so much. We could talk all day with you as always, but we're just going to have to have you back is what this means. Thank you guys. Thank you. Have a good one.

Coming up, Logan Hackett joins us as we discuss Sha'Carri Richardson, the US Women's National Team Olympic roster, and lots more.

Welcome back! Logan, thanks for joining us. What's up? How you doing today? I'm honestly feeling rejuvenated. I feel like the rest of this week I was so tired, but I'm happy to be here. We were actually just talking about Brianna Stewart, and we heard that you have something of note to share. So the other day I got a package, and it was these shoes. Shut up!

They're basketball shoes. It was so cool. But like they have little flowers on them. Everything. We just had a whole conversation about signature shoes. Well, here's one. But I thought that was it. And then like two days later, a huge box. It was like five pounds comes. I got so much. I got spoiled. This girl spoiled me. So the first is this long sleeve. We have a short sleeve.

Oh, a whole hall. Cute. Oh, no, we're doing a hall today. Oh, my God. A whole basketball fit. Shut up. So we have the jersey and the shorts. Okay, so you'll be out in Toronto hooping. Watch out for Logan on the courts. Yeah, right? Somebody 1B1B. Okay, easy. Hold on. I'm five feet tall, but it's whatever. You'll crush it. A cardigan? This is so Stewie, too. Oh, that's adorable. I see her like...

And I wore it like the whole first day that I got it. It was so comfy. I love that color. And then a whole sweatsuit. A sweatsuit? That's the... Nothing like a travel suit. Holy shit. But now a purple travel suit. Are they so soft? They look so soft. No, they are. And the sweater is like...

I don't want to say it's like a fall sweater. I kind of feel like a grandma just want to curl up in a bowl. Yeah, it gives off that energy. Like, I love it so much. I have been craving fall, even though it's only June. And I love summer. Like, I'm so confused about that. I know. I know. Okay, well, let's dive into the headlines this week. First,

Three years after being banned from the Tokyo Olympics for THC, Sha'Carri Richardson became the fastest woman in the world this year with a 10.71 sprint to earn her ticket to Paris. Sha'Carri is calling this redemption arc her "I'm not back, I'm better" tour. Is she leaving Paris with a gold medal? And when is she collaborating with Meg Thee Stallion? Yes and yes. I wanna rename her tour, uh, "Suck It."

She really came out. She really proved everybody wrong. And I love that so much. I think she's going to dominate Paris, like especially with everything behind her. I just I want to see her do so well. But I think she like she could go for the world record here. Absolutely.

10 seconds. 10.7. I never can get over these times, you guys. I just think it's crazy how fast that is. Oh, yeah. I can't even imagine. I think my time for a 100-yard sprint, I think it would be over a minute. I'm not kidding. I got bad knees and I got bad ankles. I'm moving on.

Some big news has come out of the women's soccer world this week. And Meg, I know you are itching to talk about this. So we're going to start with Casey Stoney, who was just let go by San Diego Wave. Was this a surprise to you? And how do you feel about it? It was definitely a whoa. When I opened social media and saw the news, it was like a whoa. And that's for multiple reasons. One, it was a surprise.

In San Diego's first, let's say two and a half years, but two full seasons, they've gone to the semifinals twice. They have won the NWSL Shield and they just won NWSL Challenge Cup this year. What she's been able to do in those first two seasons as an expansion team, which is always difficult to do, is very impressive. So when I opened social media and saw it, it was definitely just like a...

Obviously there's a lot more that we certainly aren't privy to, but the news definitely was surprising to me. - I think especially that she like moved her family down and everything. She just signed that new contract. Like we thought that it was set, but one of my thoughts also was we're like halfway through the season. Are they expecting a huge turnaround? Like at least give her the rest of the season to be able to like maybe try to do something here. It's all just very confusing.

like I'm an adult so I'm like should I buy a house like now what do we do with the house there's other logistical things outside of soccer that I'm like okay well now what I it just feels like it just reminds I don't know I don't know enough but like about the details of it but it's my it's it's giving like

You put a woman in a leadership position and then it doesn't go exactly how you want it to go. So she's done. Like there's not like, I just, it happens all the time when women get put in, in these bigger positions. And it's like, they're not, it just is. It's very confusing to me. I don't like it. It's it makes me feel like something is a foot moving on. The U S WNT roster was announced earlier this week. Megan.

Hit us with your thoughts. I know you got a ton about the roster. I do, and I'm going to try and keep it short, but I'm very long-winded. I know the main headline everyone is talking about is no Alex Morgan. I knew this was going to happen.

Two weeks ago, I went on Gojo and Golic and I said, don't be surprised if Alex Morgan is not on this roster. I'm not saying that I like it. I think actually the forward line is incredibly talented. And what Emma Hayes had to do and the decision she had to make was extremely difficult.

I'm not surprised, mainly because there is so much young talent that we have to nurture and give minutes and give these big stages to. And yes, it is definitely a miss not having a leader like Alex Morgan. At the same time, I haven't had much time to get into the, I guess, the analysis and the

discourse about it. But I think it's also remiss to say that there isn't veteran leadership because Emily Sonnet's on the team. Alyssa Nair is on the team. You have World Cup. You have Olympic medalists on the team. You also have Crystal Dunn, who may not have played in as many Olympics, but still is a leader in her own right. So I know that that's going to come as a big shock to a lot of people, but I had a feeling this was going to happen. And also, you're going to need to edit this out. Let's f***

go Trinity Rodman, Jaden Shaw, Sophia Smith, getting their first Olympic, uh, Olympic call-ups thrilled for them, thrilled for this forward line. And also no Becky Sauerbrunn. I know that we're talking about no Alex, but also Becky's not on the roster either. And that one's going to be a little bit outshined by the lack of Alex Morgan, but yeah,

you're definitely seeing I don't like the term changing of the guard I think it's like it's lame so I don't know what the what I would dub this but we're seeing new talent come in we're elevating we're growing and um Emma Hayes has a

had a hard decision to do. And I am actually quite thrilled to see what happens in Paris. I was actually thinking about the forward line earlier. And with Crystal Dunn moving up to forward, you also have Lynn Williams as an alternate. So even if Lynn were to come in, there's no room for Alex there. It would be hard to sub her in. So at first, I think it was a shock to everyone. But the more I think through it, the more I'm seeing what's up. And we didn't see her that much in the June camps anyways. Again, I think I

I was at that game in Denver and she didn't,

I might be wrong, but she didn't play at all. And if she did, she got very limited minutes. And I had a feeling that, you know, that was Emma's first game as manager. And I knew I was like, she's experimenting with the young talent. And that's when I was like, there's, there's probably going to be a world where Alex isn't in Paris. But for the rest of the team, is there anyone that you feel got snubbed or somebody that should be replaced? Not necessarily. I think what I was saying before the show is, um,

Everyone was so excited to get a new manager in post-Tokyo 2020, post-Women's World Cup. And we got one. And we got a very good one. And I am fully trusting the process. I'm fully on the Emma Hayes train. And so if there's a reason she thinks someone should be on this roster, if she thinks there's a reason they should not be,

I'm all in. But again, I think like it's such a difficult puzzle to put together because you could make a case for one person. But then what about the other? And I think that just goes to show the talent that the U.S. has. But no, I'm I'm very excited. I'm happy with the roster. And I think we're going to bring home gold. But sorry, I know you're Canadian.

Yeah, we'll get into that later. But with all like the young players on the team, do you think this is what's needed to bring the U.S. back to like domination form? I do. I think at some point, the veterans that we've seen and have grown to love over the last 10 plus years, at some point, we're going to have to retire and move on from the game. No one really likes change, but at some point it was going to come.

And I think now more than ever, but there are so many names that people are going to fall in love with. And that's just the nature of sport. And there's going to come a time, hopefully in a very long time where they're also going to have to move on from the game. And people aren't going to like that either. There's always going to be resistance to change, but absolutely. Like this is the young and I,

Age-wise, they're young, but I don't want it to come across like they're children, like they're babies because they're absolutely elite athletes and this is their time to shine. All right, it's time for a new segment called...

Is Katie too online? And the answer is yes, she is. So Katie is going to share the top moments from her algorithm this week. Katie, what do you have for us? Okay, so much, but we only have time for a couple. So I had to prioritize. I had to trim down. I had to go into quiet mode and set that setting on my Instagram. First, Mercury Press Conference. Did you guys see it? It is one of my favorite social team events.

ideas i've seen um and the fact that they actually pulled it off outstanding so the social team challenged the mercury players to sneak buzzwords into their press conference answers and it might be one of my favorite social media executions of all time let's see it how y'all doing today going back to the basics um

I'm about to have the mega style you need out there. I'm about to get low, all right? Okay, I'm about to slide, all right? I'm stoked. It's just a new era. It's a new energy. Hopefully you guys can feel it. I felt like a hippopotamus the past couple years, you know, not a Power Ranger. This year, I feel like the pink Power Ranger.

We have a lot of vets on our team and I'm kind of just soaking it in. I'm the young buck now, so I'm just soaking it in right now. So that's why these preseason games are also good for us to figure out, you know, what we need to change, what we need to work on so it's not a kerfuffle out there or anything like that. You're not going to win a championship in this league not playing defense.

And I think that's something that we want to do. When we come down to court, we want it to be a whole. Like, we just want it to, we want them heads spinning. She is the bee's knees. Okay, anyway, Tasha's freaking awesome, man. Thank y'all. Appreciate it.

Y'all the bee's knees. I have some ideas on what they should do for the next iteration. Timothee Chalamet. I want someone to say that. I want them to go skrrt somehow. I just want to get that in there. I want them to do like crazy words that you wouldn't even think of. Like golf course. Yeah, there you go. The next one is Ellie the Elephant.

The Renaissance Dance. Ellie the Elephant is a mascot for the New York Liberty, and she is outstanding. She's got insane moves, and she recently went viral for her Beyonce mashup. It's basically like the Masked Singer, but on steroids, and also better, because it's dancing and sports. We just don't know who she is, and I kind of love the mystery. I do too. Sometimes it eats me up, though.

So I'm thinking like, like I actually texted my friend who works with the Liberty and I was like, okay, I have to know is Ellie Black because she's like just the way that she's dancing. It's giving black. And I'm like, I just, I need to know who this is. I want to respect her privacy, but also I want to give her props. The year before she retired, she should go on like the Masked Singer and then that should be her big reveal. That'd be good. Last up, the Olympic swim trials proposal.

heard around all the corners of the internet right after lily king qualified for the paris games her boyfriend got down on one knee and asked her to marry him which a lot of feelings we have a lot of feelings about it because we keep saying we want men who want strong women and like

She's like, I want that freaking strong woman. I want to be married to an Olympian and I don't care that I gave up my job and moved across the country for you. And I wanted to be like, don't hold, then don't say it, you know, don't say it in your proposal. But, uh, so I do have some notes on his, uh, approach. I have never been a fan of proposals at sporting events, first and foremost. However,

What I don't want is for the internet to find this video and then start calling me a miserable woman who's going to be single forever. So I'm going to, I'm going to caveat that I'm all for love. I'm a hopeless romantic. Sometimes there's a time and place and,

And I think, in my opinion, sporting events aren't them unless there's some like... And here's the thing. We don't know people's relationship. So maybe there's some very meaningful moment why someone does it at a game. Maybe that's where they met. Maybe that's their first date. There's things we don't know. The reason I don't like them is because like...

We lose so much context because it can only happen. Like anyone that's ever worked in game operations or game entertainment, you got 30 seconds to propose to your girl and you better hope she says yes. And then we're going to cut the camera to someone else. So we're losing the context. And if they obviously have a story there, however, two things being true, happy for them. Also, now we're going to overshadow her moment. That's why I'm like, I'm torn. I'm happy for them. I love, love. Maybe there was a different time and place for it, but that's not my relationship.

So I digress. If he told me he was going to do it, I'd be like, all right, I have a better idea. I would have been like, let's talk to...

uh what the guy in operations will get once we'll get everyone to leave and then we'll find an excuse to get her back in the arena and it's just the two of you and you'll be like oh my god where do we put that swim cap i don't know and then all of a sudden lights go up and there's like roses everywhere and then he can do it with just the two of them still in the place he wants and that means a lot to them but it's just it just becomes about the two of them instead of

the world around it. That would be, that would be my pivot. She just swam her ass off and is probably like still bent over dry heaving while she was walking, but like still trying to catch her breath. And then next thing you know, your husband is just there like, marry me. Like, I feel like... At least he...

isn't afraid to declare his love publicly. I think that's a win. When we come back, our good follow of the week is social media influencer and golfer Tish Allen, who speaks on the importance of lifting women's golf voices among sports.

It's been a three-year wait, but the Olympics are back, and the CBS Sports Podcast Network has you covered with everything happening in Paris. It's a new era for the U.S. women's national team, and attacking third will tackle all the women's soccer action. First cut will keep close tabs on golf, while beyond the arc will follow the U.S. men's basketball team on a quest for another gold. And we need to talk now will provide comprehensive coverage of women's athletes at the Olympic Games.

Follow and listen to all CBS Sports podcasts for free on the Odyssey app and wherever you get your podcasts. Anything golf and entertainment, I'm there. Golf instructor one day, a trick shot artist, a creator, a host for the biggest celebrity event. I also love to dance on the side. I'm an LGBTQ plus advocate. Also proud member of the ANHPI community. Woo!

I started playing golf at three. My dad got me into the game and it was really the way that him and I bonded. And then soon thereafter,

At age seven, I started competing. I turned into the top junior golfer in Illinois and started competing and traveling across the nation. Proceeded to go to high school golf, collegiate golf, and eventually professional golf. I legitimately don't even have a memory where I was not a golfer. Like, that's all I know. At the time, I think it was more just like, oh, I get to hang out with my dad. It was our bonding time. In 2015, when I knew I wanted to turn pro,

that's when social media started to become more prominent and especially in sports. And so I saw a few other girls documenting their journey. I first was very against it because I thought, oh, my game is going to speak louder than words. I'm going to be the better player. The endorsements are going to come. And soon, you know, you just realize that that's just not reality. So I had to make ends meet. And social media was what I leaned on.

I documented my journey, highs and lows. I won a couple on the mini tour circuit. I was a top money lister. More follows, more likes. I thought, okay, why don't I juggle a ball? I thought every golfer could do that.

Lo and behold, they can't. It's just a few of us. And so I started doing some tricks and started to pop off. And then I started dancing on the golf course. And then it really popped up. And I was like, oh, wow, I actually have a platform now. And then now I'm able to expand it so much. So as I get to use my platform for golf and beyond that, which is really, really cool. I actually get a lot of DMs from young girls online.

that I got into the sport because of you. And I think professionals, you know, that want to use golf as a means of connecting with other like-minded people and professionals, and they would reach out to me and say like, hey, your content, like your tip changed my life. Or your videos made it so cool that I just picked up a club and I went to the range by myself.

And messages like that really started like fueling me to be like, you know what? If them watching my stuff makes them feel more welcome, then that's, I'm doing something. Tessa, we actually are childhood best friends. And when I kind of hit a point in my career where I was like, I think I need help. Like this is really hard to do by myself. Tessa,

And she was always a creative. She always had a knack for it. And eventually that bled into her helping me with, you know, captions and YouTube videos. Then I started saying like, well, I get a plus one to this event. Maybe you can come. And after that one event, it became, well, are you free next week?

"Are you free for like this whole month?" But she's truly been there from the beginning. - Being able to work with your best friend is honestly the biggest blessing. Kind of when I first started in this space, I'll never forget a pivotal moment was that I got like behind the ropes access. It was my first ever

golf tournament that I got to go to with Texas Farmers Insurance 2022. And so I went and I'm this little Filipino girl running around. I don't look like any of the men there. They're like

like they're typically white and older running around with this big camera and the security guards like, excuse me, like freaking out. Like, why are you here? Why are you here? And I'm like, I got a little pass that says I can be behind the ropes. And then he backed off, you know? And I was like, dang, like, and then he had made a comment like, oh, you sorry, you don't look like the typical photographer that we see around here. And I'm like, well,

And that moment, I was like, this is it. Like, I want to bring more females in sports photography and videography. There are a lot of pinch me moments as we could just like literally look at each other and be like, dude, wait, just hold on, we're tiger. Bro, like, what? The coolest thing is that we have the support system of one another and no one really knows me quite like she does, especially when we're out there. Oh my God.

LAGC is one of six teams within the new league, a league that's also basically in partnership with the PGA Tour. And it's a whole different format. I am an investor in LAGC, the Los Angeles team. Quite a few really awesome investors as well. We have Michelle Wee, we have Alex Morgan, we have Alexis Ohanian.

We're really big on building community and doing a lot of events leading up into to build the hype, make sure we have people behind us. I am an ambassador for Topgolf. I've been with them for a couple of years now. I signed on as an ambassador with Youth On Course, which is an organization that I actually grew up using, which makes golf more accessible.

And so through my partnership with Topgolf and combining youth on course and also bringing in LAGC, we were able to kind of combine heads and put this event together. The event was called In My Golf Girl Era. And it was just, I get emotional even thinking about it, just knowing that we were able to make it happen. We opened up with a panel and I wanted to show these young girls that through sport, you can be amazing. Because growing up, I never had just like an all-female background.

Anything, really. It was always me just trying to, really, I just had to go beat the boys to get attention and to be seen. And I wanted to show these young girls that they are seen, that they can have role models, especially. And I wanted them to hear leadership from other realms, writing background, an actual golf background, a creator background, and another professional athlete. We all had to push through much more difficult odds, I'd like to say, than others. And we persevered.

I think it's been really awesome to see the influence of the WNBA collegiate of women's basketball between Kaitlyn Clark and Angel Reese. And then, you know, soccer, we watched them fight for equal pay and equal rights. And so seeing other sports and other female sports in their way of being able to make it happen, I think it's really encouraging. And golf is getting a little bit of that, but I'm still waiting for like,

Oh, like it's happening. We need a bigger platform. We need more eyes. My mission to make golf more approachable, more fun has always been the goal, especially even when I was playing professionally. And I think it's just breaking the stigmas. That's really been very important to me because I've always gone very against the grain and legitimately every single sector of my life.

Like being a female in a man's game, being a person of color, being, you know, openly gay. And then also just trying to make a difference in a place where basically men are always in high power in this world. And so it's slowly changing. There's a lot of change. And I'm someone who's always very, very called to initiate those changes.

What I love about Tish is that she took the reality of her situation and she reinvented herself. And I think a lot of people in her situation would pivot away from their dream because they're like, oh, this is a sign. I shouldn't be doing this. But she took it as a way to

invent an entirely new career and excel at it, which is just such an athlete move. So Logan, the women's PGA Championship just wrapped over the weekend. Angel Yin competed in it, who you spoke to last week. Can you give us an update on how Angel ended up doing? So she made the cut, which is extremely positive because that was one of her goals after coming back from an ankle injury.

She played pretty well the first two days and her third round was kind of where she fell down the leaderboard, but she finished 72nd and honestly, it was still a really good weekend for her. And Nelly Korda won six times in seven starts with an LPGA record tying five times in a row.

She has since cooled off in her three past starts with Miss Cuts at the U.S. Women's Open, the Meyer LPGA Classic, and the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. Is there any other acronyms I could fit into that sentence? Who knows? Logan, what do you think is going on with her? Winning five and then thinking about the rest of the season that's in front of you is incredibly hard. It's a little bit of a mental thing. And I think all golfers can agree that when you're playing really well,

you just want to keep on playing well and that's really all you know. So then when one bad thing happens, then you're like, "Oh my gosh, what is happening?" And it really is a mental pretzel. But I honestly just think that she needs some rest and she made the Olympic roster, so that's really positive. And I think she's going to do really well there. The Women's PGA Championship was Lillia View's second tournament back after being out 11 weeks with an injury and she finished tied for second place.

Right now she has her sights set on that number one golfer title currently held by Nelly Corda. Logan, do you think she can reclaim that number one spot this season with Nelly currently struggling? Lilia is doing amazing. And then we have Nelly who's dipped in form. There's still a lot of points between them. So I think Nelly is kind of good to keep that top spot. But with also Nelly dipping, there's different like winners every single week.

So it's really a toss up. I think if Lilia continues to play how she's playing, then there could really be a race going. But I have faith in Nelly. And I think after a dip, you come back even stronger. And I think she's going to close out the season really well. Coming back after 11 weeks off and tying for second is truly amazing.

I feel like that's even better than that's like the best with the best outcome you could have had. That's outstanding. An angel actually in our interview was saying that she didn't even feel her body when she came back from her injury. And I've had experiences where like you go to hold a club and you don't even know what you're feeling. So that makes it even more impressive. Like I'm really happy for her. Yeah, it's so nice to hear your insight too as a golfer.

because it's nice to hear it from someone who gets it and just puts everything into perspective. As always, thank you for joining us today. I'll be counting down the minutes until we get to hang out again. Thank you for having me. I miss your beautiful faces already. Let us know if you cozy up in that sweatshirt between now and then. I might do it right now because it's raining. Oh, perfect.

Okay, so before we take a break, it is the final week of Pride Month. And what better way to close things out than by diving further into Tish Allen's coming out story. You don't have to wait for Pride Month. You can just like support because you want to.

I think it's such a gift to be different. Coming out doesn't actually end once you come out. Coming out is actually almost like a daily experience. This is who I am. I'm proud of who I am. I hope that my story can be a light at the end of the tunnel. You know, one of the comments that I received often during my coming out post was, why do you need to come out? Like, why do you need to announce it? And like, my question is the same. It's like, yeah, why? I...

I want to get to a point where we don't have to, to get to a place of just zero judgment, not only coming from a very cultural background with tradition, I was also walking into a sport that was male-centric

and traditional. So I really felt like I was fighting so many different fronts that it was like, I have to let this go. I have to let this be and whatever happens, happens. If my followers truly rock with me and ride for me, then they will be here. And it worked out.

For myself, it was really important that my narrative and my ongoing storyline is always a means of celebration. And I talk a lot about that personally to other people who are a part of the community who DM me and say, "How did you get through that?" And I will message them. I will give you my time because I know what that feels like. And I think they get really taken back because I get it. Like, I feel it to my core. - For lesbians, of course we said I love you on our first date.

I do my best and I really do think that I live quite authentically. Like what you see on the gram is pretty much who I am. If anything, I'm like off of it. I'm like that and more. Hey, sorry, one question. Are you looking for a wife? I don't know if it was last year or the year before, but every company was just slapping on a rainbow version of their logo. Here's a rainbow stamp. I'm like, you know, I don't even know if I like rainbows. Oh my God.

It's just overkill. Simply just supporting the individuals who may be a part of whatever community is, whether LGBTQ, AA, NHPI, whatever it is, support someone, create more means for them, and then everyone grows. Welcome back in everyone. It's time for the marquee games of the week.

Let's look at what's going on this weekend in both NWSL and WNBA. Here are two games I have circled. In the W, Minnesota visits Chicago and the Lynx are not only Commissioner's Cup champions, but also are 9-1 in their last 10 games. I'm watching out for Minnesota's Nafisa Collier. Nafisa was named Commissioner's Cup MVP and is an elite two-way player averaging a double-double with 20.9 points and also 10.4 rebounds per game. In NWSL, Angel City hosts Orlando Pride.

I'm excited not only because I'll be at the game, but also because Orlando are looking to extend their undefeated season. My player to watch out for, though, is Angel City's Sydney LaRue. She has the club's second most goals this season with four, and she might get another one on Sunday against her former team. These picks are brought to you by DraftKings. Visit sportsbook.draftkings.com or find the DraftKings Sportsbook wherever you get your app.

We want to hear from you, our fans. Who is your good follow? Send us your noms. Tell us why they should be featured on our show. Are they hilarious? Are they inspiring? Are they a little perfect mixture of both? Make sure you send them in. We want to hear from you. Good Follow is brought to you by DraftKings. We will see you all next episode. Thank you for hanging out with us this week.

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