Good Game with Sarah Spain

Let’s do that hockey! Specifically: the Women’s Beanpot and hockey at the Winter Olympics. Sarah spoke to Northeastern and team Switzerland player Alessia Baechler, as well as BU and Team Germany twin sisters Lilli and Luisa Welcke, about transitioning from their home countries to playing and living in the States, the moment they found out they made their team’s roster for n...

NWSL Players Association Executive Director Meghann Burke joins Sarah to discuss the PA’s decision to file a grievance challenging the league’s new High Impact Player rule, whether the NWSL’s handling of recent issues might be eroding trust in leadership, and the ongoing uncertainty over Trinity Rodman’s status in the league. Plus, the cooler is in for the long haul, making...

Big East Commissioner and former WNBA President Val Ackerman joins Sarah to discuss how her job has changed as a result of NIL, the transfer portal and House vs. NCAA, how her previous career stops influenced her work as commissioner of a conference, and how the disparity between the football haves and have-nots is growing every day.  RSVP to the 2026 Congressional College Athletics Summit&nb...

Former WNBA player Sonia Chase and former NBA Players Association Executive Director Tamika Tremaglio join Sarah to discuss the behind the scenes of the WNBA CBA negotiations, the revenue sharing specifics keeping the two sides apart, and whether a work stoppage is the only thing that will get a new deal done. Plus, a Denver homecoming, college hoops delivers streaks and slides, and a reminder tha...

Defector tennis writer Giri Nathan joins Sarah to discuss the Australian Open and the start of the 2026 tennis season, which players might push the trio that’s been at the top of the game for the last few years, and the pros and cons of a WTA/ATP merger. Plus, showing up with pride, a footy rumor we’re trying to ignore, and it’s deja vu all over again in Storrs, Connecticut. Foll...

WNBA superstar and Unrivaled co-founder Breanna Stewart joins Sarah to discuss what she learned from Unrivaled’s inaugural season, her goals for season two, how the 3-on-3 league has played a role in setting a new standard for player experience and pay, and her best prediction for when the WNBA CBA negotiations will finally get done. Plus, a trip to the world’s most famous arena, a ros...

WNBA-hooper-turned-team-owner, analyst, activist and all-around badass Renee Montgomery joins Sarah to discuss yet another new title she’s adding to her resume, and to give her thoughts on the start of Unrivaled Season 2 and the ongoing WNBA CBA negotiations. Plus, serving up acronym soup, a design worthy of a star, and shooting for a record.  Get your tickets to the 2026 Women’s...

Ahead of season two of LOVB – aka League One Volleyball – league President Rosie Spaulding and LOVB Salt Lake player Jordyn Poulter join Sarah to discuss their roses and thorns from year one, the biggest changes the league has made for season two, the evolution of team ownership, and how LOVB views its main competitor Major League Volleyball (MLV). Watch the video of the prank on Orly,...

It’s time to announce the winners of the 2025 Slice-ees, the second annual Good Game with Sarah Spain awards for excellence, eminence, and embarrassment in women’s sports! Then, friends of the show return to put a button on our new year’s ponderings and talk about changing our minds in 2026. Plus, shuffling up and down the leaderboard and an Italian athlete we’re findi...

A new year demands a look back and a look ahead, so we asked some friends of the show to share a memory from 2025 that’s sure to stick and to tell us their intentions - not resolutions, intentions! - for 2026. Plus, circling back on the biggest news from the holiday break, a Winter Olympic charcuterie board, and Unrivaled tips off without a co-founder.  The Unrivaled schedule can be fou...

To close out our "Best of 2025" series, we're revisiting Sarah's conversation with legendary coach and player Dawn Staley. Back in September, she joined Sarah for a candid conversation about leading in life, beyond just wins and losses. Staley, whose Hall of Fame career has shaped generations of athletes, discusses the pressure of coaching in the new NIL and House v. NCAA era, her advocacy for equ...

Happy 2026, slices! We're continuing our week of Best Ofs with Paige Jones, a member of the U.S. National Ski Jumping Team, who joined Sarah in August to share a concerning experience she had during inspections before the season began. Jones explained why a scandal involving altered ski jumping suits has resulted in more intense examinations, detailed just what the heck a crotch machine is, a...

Happy New Year's Eve, Slices! We're continuing our week of Best Ofs with U.S. women’s national team legends Julie Foudy and Abby Wambach who sat down with Sarah for a live interview as part of the Women’s Sports Foundation's Athlete Leadership Connection back in October. They discuss how Abby and Julie handled the transition from pro athlete to post-soccer life, why women's sports are...

Three-time Olympian and two-time World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe joined Sarah earlier this year to talk birthday celebrations, being on the good side of 40, finding joy post-retirement, what’s on her decade to-do list, co-hosting a podcast with her fiancée Sue Bird, what is lost when athletes don’t use their voices, and being a target for far-right foolishness.  Listen to A...

This week, we're revisiting some of our favorite interviews of 2025, including this conversation with Erin Drake of the WNBA Players Association, and Meghann Burke and Tori Huster of the NWSL Players Association. The trio joined Sarah in late October to discuss what collective bargaining negotiations look like behind the scenes, what the two PAs have learned from each other, and how systems need t...

We're revisiting some of our favorite interviews of 2025, starting with a conversation with Allyson Felix. The retired track star and mother-of-two spoke with Sarah over the summer about her legendary career and the joys and challenges of juggling parenthood and multiple business endeavors. They discussed her new management company Always Alpha, her new documentary "She Runs The World," and h...

Little Citrus is back for another holiday hot take speed round – Christmas edition!! Sarah and Alex share their opinions on artificial trees, gift cards as gifts, Hallmark movies, Die Hard and more. Then some hot takes from a few Slices and a couple of your favorite NWSL stars. Plus, a No. 3 pummels some No. 1s, when the student becomes the teacher, and protecting the money maker ahead of th...

2025 is (blessedly) almost over, which means it’s time for the 2025 Slice-ees (aka the Good Game with Sarah Spain End-of-Year Awards). Sarah and Alex present their nominees in categories including the “The Megan Rapinoe I F***ing Yeeted My Achilles in the Final Game Award" for the most unbelievable injury and the “Misha Jones Left You Brokenhearted Thanks Obama Award" for the ath...

Former head of Turner Broadcasting, now co-CEO and Founder of Horizon Sports & Experiences David Levy joins Sarah to discuss this weekend’s Shark Beauty Women's Champions Classic, what he learned about buying and selling sports in his 33 years at Turner, his advice for decision-makers when it comes to the changing media landscape, and why the women’s sports bubble isn't a...

Women’s volleyball reporter and host of the Side Out Society podcast Tiffany Oshinsky joins Sarah to preview this weekend’s NCAA volleyball Final Four in Kansas City, discuss the biggest upsets and surprises from the tournament, and take a pop quiz on city nicknames. Plus, tripling up the triple doubles, winning by a Mississippi, and we’ll take one year for one million, Alex.&nbs...

Ahead of the Milan-Cortina Paralympics, multi-sport phenom Oksana Masters sat down with producer Alex to discuss how she’s persevered through dozens of injuries and surgeries to become the most decorated Winter Paralympian in U.S. history, her caffeine-fueled goals for life after competition, and the advice she'd give up-and-coming competitors (but never follow herself). Plus, labor division...

Legendary soccer player Michelle Akers joins Sarah to talk about  Origin Story: The 85ers , a new podcast documenting the first U.S. Women's National Team, the topless surf outing that resulted in a lasting nickname, and the joy, injuries and heartbreak that came with setting into motion 40 years of U.S. women’s soccer dominance. Plus, the field beats the favorite, a caucus teams up wit...

Justine Siegel and Assia Grazioli-Venier of the soon-to-launch Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) joined Sarah to discuss the behind-the-scenes process of getting the league up and running, the decision to start with four teams in coastal cities but play the inaugural season in the Midwest, and the emotions they expect to feel when they witness the first pitch of the first women’s pro...

Former WNBA player, coach and sometime reality star Ty Young joins Sarah to discuss all the offseason options now available to players, the reality of being on reality TV, working under Teresa Weatherspoon, and her shock at the WNBA legend getting just one year at the helm in Chicago. Plus, is it possible that winning too much is a bad thing?  SHOW NOTES:  Read Jeff Kassouf’s repor...

Beth Mowins, longtime play-by-play announcer and OG women’s hoops broadcaster, joins Sarah to discuss the most memorable moments from her legendary career, the changes she’s seen in the women’s college basketball landscape over the years, the biggest winners, losers, surprises and disappointments of this NCAA hoops season so far, and her advice to those looking to follow in her f...