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 finding it im-pasta-ble not to love.

• Check out the behind-the-scenes video of Alessandra Fumagalli and her spaghetti here 

• The latest women’s basketball rankings can be found here 

• Follow sliding sports expert Ken Childs here and check out his website here

• Leave us a voicemail at 872-204-5070 or send us a note at [email protected] 

• Follow Sarah on social! Bluesky: @sarahspain.com TikTok: @Spain.Sarah Instagram: @Spain2323

• Follow producer Alex Azzi! Bluesky: @byalexazzi.bsky.social Instagram: @AzziArtwork 

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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 found here 

• Check out Marta’s dancing skills here

• Follow Lyndsay Rush on Instagram here

• Leave us a voicemail at 872-204-5070 or send us a note at [email protected] 

• Follow Sarah on social! Bluesky: @sarahspain.com TikTok: @Spain.Sarah Instagram: @Spain2323

• Follow producer Alex Azzi! Bluesky: @byalexazzi.bsky.social Instagram: @AzziArtwork 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 equity in women’s athletics, and the emotional strength required to support friends and family through health challenges — including breast cancer. 

• Follow Dawn on Instagram here
• Leave us a voicemail at 872-204-5070 or send us a note at [email protected] 
• Follow Sarah on social! Bluesky: @sarahspain.com Instagram: @Spain2323
• Follow producer Alex Azzi! Bluesky: @byalexazzi.bsky.social Instagram: @AzziArtwork

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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, and asked her sport’s governing body to better prioritize athlete comfort and safety.

• Follow Paige on social media here
• Leave us a voicemail at 872-204-5070 or send us a note at [email protected] 
• Follow Sarah on social! Bluesky: @sarahspain.com Instagram: @Spain2323
• Follow producer Alex Azzi! Bluesky: @byalexazzi.bsky.social Instagram: @AzziArtwork

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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 inherently political, learning how to enjoy the ordinary and not just the extraordinary, and how Julie and Abby’s new podcast with Billie Jean King, “Welcome to the Party,” adds another layer of radical joy to the women’s sports world.

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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 Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe here
• Leave us a voicemail at 872-204-5070 or send us a note at [email protected] 
• Follow Sarah on social! Bluesky: @sarahspain.com Instagram: @Spain2323
• Follow producer Alex Azzi! Bluesky: @byalexazzi.bsky.social Instagram: @AzziArtwork 

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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 to change in order for investment in women's sports to make it to the players that built the leagues. 

• Read the Guardian article about the NWSLPA and WNBPA collab here
• Follow the WNBPA here
• Leave us a voicemail at 872-204-5070 or send us a note at [email protected] 
• Follow Sarah on social! Bluesky: @sarahspain.com Instagram: @Spain2323
• Follow producer Alex Azzi! Bluesky: @byalexazzi.bsky.social Instagram: @AzziArtwork 
• Follow the NWSLPA here

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 her longtime advocacy on behalf of women and mothers, from calling out Nike's pregnancy policies to pushing for the first-ever nursery in an Olympic Village. 

• Follow Allyson Felix on Instagram here
• Leave us a voicemail at 872-204-5070 or send us a note at [email protected]
• Follow Sarah on social! Bluesky: @sarahspain.com Instagram: @Spain2323 TikTok: spain.sarah
• Follow producer Alex Azzi! Bluesky: @byalexazzi.bsky.social

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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 the big day. 

• Vote for the Slice-ees here

• Check out Parity’s “wrapped” for women’s sports research here

• Read Eden Laase’s story about Sydni Summers here

• Watch the video of Cam Brink being fitted for a face mask here

• Watch the SNL sketch that references the reused gift bag here 

• The NCAA basketball schedule can be found here  

• The PWHL schedule can be found here 

• The college gymnastics schedule can be found here 

• The NCAA hockey schedule can be found here 

• Leave us a voicemail at 872-204-5070 or send us a note at [email protected] 

• Follow Sarah on social! Bluesky: @sarahspain.com TikTok: @Spain.Sarah Instagram: @Spain2323

• Follow producer Alex Azzi! Bluesky: @byalexazzi.bsky.social Instagram: @AzziArtwork 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 athlete or coach whose departure to another team or league caused you the most distress. It's up to you to decide who were the best, most fashionable, and most socially influential athletes in the world of sports. Plus, an in memoriam for the athletes who nearly killed us this year with their retirement announcements.

• Submit your vote for the Slice-ees here

• Leave us a voicemail at 872-204-5070 or send us a note at [email protected] 

• Follow Sarah on social! Bluesky: @sarahspain.com TikTok: @Spain.Sarah Instagram: @Spain2323

• Follow producer Alex Azzi! Bluesky: @byalexazzi.bsky.social Instagram: @AzziArtwork

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.