Hey Prime members, you can listen to Men in Blazers ad 3 on Amazon Music.
Download the app today.
Hi, I'm Lindsay Graham, host of Wondrous Business Movers.
In our latest series, Phil Knight bets the future of his little-known shoe company Blue
Riven Sports on a big move, creating his own in-house brand.
With this bold direction, Phil creates one of the most recognizable and successful companies
in the world, Nike.
And to business movers, becoming Nike on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.
You're listening to the Men in Blazers Media Network suboptimal radio.
What's so great about being an attacker is that you can be irrelevant for 89 minutes.
No, no, no, 90 plus minutes.
All you need is at two seconds.
You score a goal.
You're the hero.
Whereas Defender, you're perfect for 90 plus minutes and that one back pass that gets intercepted.
And now all of a sudden, you're the reason the team loses.
It sucks.
It really sometimes has a defender.
You're like, why do I choose this?
Why do I do this to myself?
Joining me today, one of the greatest footballing leaders this nation has ever produced.
And between the two of us on this podcast, we have won two World Cup titles, one Olympic
gold medal and three NWSL championships.
And anyone who watches a play knows who did all of the above because she reads the game.
As very seriously as she reads books, a courageous life force as inspirational off the field
as she is on it.
Think Gloria Steinem and Carlo Overbeck if they've been rolled into one.
The best St. Louis in the export since Farrato's toasted raves.
And a pride of Ladu from your US women's national team and mighty Portland thorns.
So people scapped in Becky Sauerbrüh.
I feel like whenever you can put toasted ravioli into an introduction for somebody, it's been
a success.
So well done, Raj.
You know, I think people often ask, what is the rise of the MIB media network being
propelled by?
It's been by my demand that we have toasted raves on every single introduction we ever
do no matter who the guest is.
I mean toasted raves.
Very St. Louis delicacy.
Everybody should try it at least once for sure.
Becky, we sit here 65 days away from the US women's national teams first World Cup 2026
game against Vietnam July 21st here in the States, but actually July 22nd will be in
the future down under.
And can we get a temperature check?
How would you describe the emotional state you are in this far out from the beginning
of the journey?
You know, I have to say it feels a little strange because we don't have a camp before
this roster gets named and we haven't had a camp for a few weeks.
And so we're very much with our professional teams just training hard playing all these
matches with the thought and kind of that looming in the back of your mind.
Like you have a World Cup coming up.
Like you every single day are being evaluated and watched by the national team, whether
it's through conversations with the coaching staff or it's film being watched or games
being watched.
And everything you do is being evaluated to make that roster.
And it's so strange that you're not getting to do that in a training camp with the national
team.
It's with your professional teams.
So you're doing two things right now.
You're doing your best for your professional teams, but also trying to make that roster.
So it's a surreal reality.
You know, I said far away with my question, but does that inject a sense of urgency, that
kind of feeling, knowing you're being watched, having those conversations with coach Black
K and his team, does this world couple World Cups actually feel far off from a football
in perspective?
Do you feel the time running out as you feel close?
Oh, it feels it feels so close when you think about the fact that we only have a send off
match before that first game against Vietnam.
When you think about you don't even know when the roster is going to be named.
And so that could be next week.
It could be in four weeks.
Like you really don't know.
So everything matters.
And so it's a little unsettling, but it's also supposed to feel unsettling.
Like this is a big deal, making that roster is a big deal.
And so I'm okay sitting with it.
I'm a little, a little injured right now, which is unfortunate.
And so like having that also be something that is consuming my mind.
Yeah, it's an unsettling times, I would say.
You have, as you say, missed the last couple of thorns games with that injury.
Nothing major, I believe.
Nothing major.
For problem.
Let's tell America nothing major.
Everyone calm down.
But tell us how you're doing.
And does that mean even a small niggle so close?
Does it impact you mentally?
You're constantly touching your foot, gauging?
Does it hurt?
Does it hurt?
Or is professional recovery slightly more nuanced than that for an athlete?
No, you'd be surprised that often I just poke at my foot thinking, oh, does that hurt
more today or less today?
If I were to deal with this in five weeks from now, I think from my perspective, I would
be a lot more anxious and worried.
But knowing that I have some time to kind of do this right and to make sure I'm progressing
in the right way and I'm not putting myself at risk for like any soft tissue issues coming
back, you know, I feel pretty good, which for me is, is saying something because usually
I'm like, I'm going to have to amputate my foot like this is doomsday.
This is terrible.
I'm actually doing okay.
My perspective is pretty healthy.
Off the pitch is anything that you're doing differently now, like adding a meditation practice,
changing your nutritional plan, daily visits to the cat cafe to ease tension.
Well, you know, tears of the kingdom, the news elder game just came out.
So I am playing that as kind of my my escapist.
Yeah.
I'm going to take my heart and soul feel full, but other than that, I'm doing the same things.
Just now, you know, I've got the rehab element added to it, but luckily I always try to do
the right things off the field so that I don't have to change much going into a major tournament.
So just adding the rehab, getting my foot back into a good spot.
God, I think they released the Zelda game just for you in this very moment.
Sour Broom is hashtag team Zelda.
Oh, very much though.
And if they did release it just for me, you know, thank you so much.
Zelda people.
God bless you Zelda people.
What are you doing for our national football progress?
And I want to talk now about leadership because watching you is always remarkable, but in
this kind of crazy surreal, they're watching us, watching each other, trying to compete,
not in camp with each other, but, you know, remotely game after game, which every kick
means something every miss probably feels double the agony.
Every everything you always have had that ability to bring a room together.
And we talked last episode how you as your Chris progressed have enjoyed actively intentionally
the role of mentoring some of the younger players.
And I've read an interview recently where you talked about how one of the legacies you
want to leave is being seen as a players player.
And it's a word we use a lot in football.
We band the around.
I don't want to project Becky.
What does that mean to you being a player's plant?
To me, it means that as a leader, as a teammate, as someone you're just kind of going through
it with this whole journey, that I am someone that players can go to if they need anything,
if they need to ask any question that they know if I don't know the answer, I will find
the person that has the answer for them.
So just someone that they can lean on whenever good times, bad times.
That's what I think at the heart of it is a players player.
So are you in this build up to the biggest tournament of all time?
The black coat text, the coaching text, the fly around, the messages incoming.
Are you actively seeking to support the rest of your teammates, especially the younger ones
in between games, especially those who possibly could be going to a tournament for the first
time?
Yeah, I like to reach out and after watching a game, if I see someone do something that
I know they've been asked to do, either through their technical staff or even through their
professional staffs, if I see them do something, I pointed out to them.
I'm just like, hey, Sanchez, what a great run, what a great shot.
Trinity, you played amazing today, just making sure that they know that people are watching
and people care and that I really care that they're doing well and they're showing well.
So you are actively just dropping into people's text or is this group chat where you're just
being essentially an incredible validator?
I'm just, I drop text every so often if I am lucky enough to see them because our team
just played, getting to give them a hug and just saying like you're looking great, you're
playing great, just letting them know that like you got someone in your corner.
Becky, I want that in my life.
When I next use toasted ravs in an introduction, I want that text.
Great use of toasted ravs, Raj.
You all need that.
We all need that.
Becky's Halloween validation.
But I want to talk more about your story and pick up the Becky's Halloween story in one
minute.
It's a part of the most about this show.
But we do need to touch upon a, the elephant in the room almost as regular listeners know
well, you Becky's Halloween are a die-hard Arsenal fan.
And I'm sorry to bring this.
I wish I brought this up when we last spoke when Arsenal was still top of the table.
But I wanted to ask you, when the dust settles on this season, for me, a remarkable season
and an incredible journey to witness, but this is not about me, it's about you as a
fan.
It really has been a season of Wonder for the Gun.
There's no one expecting them to be where they are now.
And if you're showing any Arsenal fan a picture of the table as it looks, now at the beginning
of the season, not knowing any of the narrative that was to follow, they would have bitten
your arm off for second place.
But I'm curious as a footballer and also as a fan.
How have you experienced this all-star season?
I have to say, until very recently, it was just such pride and the way that we were playing
and the goals we were scoring and the way we were defending and how they just looked
so solid and so mature for being like pretty young squad.
And then to have it just crumble when it matters most is just so heartbreaking and just
so arsonally that it does really tear my heart up because, I mean, Man City, they look unstoppable.
And that game, Arsenal Man City, if the 4-1 loss, you just knew we weren't the better
team, we weren't the better side.
And then most recently, I think we played Brighton and it's just a stay-relevant within
the fight.
Maybe City loses some points somewhere.
And to lose that game 3-0, and you're just, it's heartbreaking.
Rint, honestly.
And I'm so glad, you know, maintain second.
It's just the way that we lost that title fight.
It's crushing.
But I also think that that's something that squad can learn from and know that they can
be better about it next year when it really matters.
Those really crucial games.
Like, you gotta play like, it's the end all be all because it very well could be.
I'm imagining some validating techs dropping off to Saka.
Yay, Saka.
Well played.
Oh, I would love to do that.
Yeah, you, the guy that I saw you, good runs.
But the current consensus in the English tabloids, you know, who do live to crap on people, that's
their job.
Cut people down to size, you know, reveling in the narrative.
This young team who eight points clear just seven weeks ago, quote, bottled the campaign,
which I want to say, I think it's really harsh from the outside.
But you've been on the inside of squad sort of one and you've been on the inside of squad
sort of lost.
So how do you view it?
I view it as momentum and how difficult in sports it can be to gain momentum and then
to fight against it when it's going against you.
And Man City got the momentum and you can see that, you know, even through the Champions
League.
It's just like they're on a different level right now.
And with Arsenal was like, they were against it, a bad result and another result.
And it's just like quick sand and it's every game is a little bit tougher.
Every moment seems like it's more important.
People start getting inside themselves a little bit more.
Decisions are bad and it really can just go downhill really quickly.
So it's a moment or a player that you've watched this season, this Arsenal season and
taken a true memory from.
I have loved watching Odegard and I think that what he has been able to do and be instrumental
with and just the center point of that midfield and the goals that he can score and just like
he seems like he's well respected by the squad.
And so it's nice to know that there's this like solid foundation that the group can work
around and have in the future as this kind of like steadfast studying force.
Not every billionaire has the stamina, the dedication, the fire to become the most unpopular
owner in sports.
But not everyone's James Dolan, the dreaded owner of the New York mix.
Introducing Reign of Error, a new podcast series that gives you court side seats for
the bench clearing free for all of controversies and scandals that JD has brought on.
Are you embarrassed by this?
I say, yeah.
We're all embarrassed.
Yes.
Here's a guy who inherited a fortune and a basketball team.
I mean, he could be playing golf.
Instead, he's made it his hobby to consistently mismanage one of the most beloved franchises
in pro sports.
Along the way, Dolan battles his own players, fans, celebrities, the media, politicians,
even the Girl Scouts.
Absolutely shocking.
It's almost too bad to be true.
I'm like, really?
I'm David Green.
Join me for Reign of Error as we ask the $6 billion question, why doesn't he just sell
the team?
Follow Reign of Error wherever you get your podcasts.
You can listen early and ad free on the Amazon Music or Wondre App.
It's a beautiful pivot, a beautiful segue because we're going to pick up the Becky
Sarah Moon story.
And from what I know of this moment, the late high school years, there was Becky Sarah Moon
was a little bit like Missouri, the God, because I want to wind the clock back a little
bit.
Last episode, we relived the sour moon formative days.
You're really adventures, fully in love with football.
And in this episode, we're going to talk about Becky Sarah and the college years.
But first, I saw so recently the really cool my eye Becky, in your last year in high school,
you Becky Sarah Moon scored.
Do you know how many goals you scored?
I don't know.
Do you know who near sister you had?
Probably in the tens.
Do you really not know?
Is this false modesty?
And you really, like when we click off, you're going to be like, no, I had 21 goals and 19
assists in my last year in high school.
Do you really not know?
Is that the actual numbers?
Yes.
Yeah, I mean, I knew I scored a lot of goals and I knew I assisted a decent amount.
And I know that I played center back.
So that should just kind of tell you the state of my high school soccer.
It wasn't great.
I love that.
So Becky Sarah Moon, they're like, those numbers are remarkable.
They are.
They're a Sophia Smith level.
But like you then turn it round to a lock.
It just shows you had the level of the caliber.
But is there an alternate universe?
We're going to this world cup.
You would be partnering with Alex Morgan up front.
Oh, absolutely.
And I think, you know, Vlaco knows that that he can put me anywhere and I'll put in a good
shift.
But he's like, you know, we just don't need you to score goals.
We need you to stop goals.
And so, you know, he put me back at center back.
So you missed the indescribable thrill of goals, or does a good block or a cover tackle
scratch that adrenaline in it?
Oh, a good game saving tackle feels so great.
And the few times that I've scored goals at the professional level, I see what the fuss
is all about.
It's really awesome.
It feels great.
So if you could have a world where you're doing both pretty regularly, like I would
choose that.
But if I just have to make, you know, the tackles and the game line clearances, like
I will gladly do that as well.
Because when you do write your autobiography, multivolle you might do, hey, that chapter
of your last year in high school, I hope that chapter is called goals.
I see what all the fuss is about.
Come to the gym.
I do see what the fuss is about.
Girls, but going into your senior year of high school, you played a number of youth national
team camps.
Imagine there's a lot of interest from programs around the country and you finally settled
on the University of Virginia.
Wow, who are?
Wow.
There you go.
We're in beautiful Charlottesville.
I'd like to assume it was just the Gus Burger at the spot, which swayed you.
But I do know it's playing for Steve Swanson, really an institution as much as a coach, 23
years now at Virginia.
That probably had a lot to do with it.
He's a gent if you've not heard of him.
He's really the ultimate players coach.
Tighter Blocu would go above and beyond to help his players, both on the field and also
in life.
But going back to your freshman year at UVA.
We talked last episode about you being an introvert off the field.
Moving away from home for the first time, it's a tough transition for so many kids, but
particularly hard for college athletes, you have to balance practice and matches, academics,
the desire to be social.
What was that adjustment like for you?
The adjustment of being away from St. Louis and my family was actually okay because I think
of all the youth national team trips and all that.
So the actual distance wasn't a problem.
The academic social life soccer balance was a lot tougher.
I tried to do all three as best as I could.
Obviously, you're free in quotes for the first time ever and so your social life is probably
dominating a lot of the other aspects.
I was always a pretty dedicated student and I very, very rarely skipped classes and I
of course never skipped anything having to do with soccer.
Who says you can't do it or because on that field, your first season, you started 21 games,
really at the heart, the back line from the off.
How was the transition to D1 College soccer from high school fields in St. Louis to clock
a stadium, that hallowed place with a rich, rich football tradition?
You very much feel like you're playing against women and you can tell when you're playing
up against a fourth year and your first year and just the savviness that they have, the
ability to use their bodies, they've been in the gym four years longer than you have.
They've had Steve or another coach for a lot longer and so just the intelligence and the
soccer IQ, you find really quickly you can't get away with things that you got away with
when you were younger on your club teams.
Like goal scoring.
Yeah, like goal scoring for me was a lot harder going into the college ranks for sure.
How did it compare to the youth national team camps and the other elite programs?
Did it feel like a jump up from them?
I would say that the players that I played with at UVA, a lot of them had youth national
team or senior team experience and so it was like the youth national teams only elevated
with these players that have been there and done that and have taken the knowledge from
the youth ranks and have applied it to the college ranks.
So we were a really good team and we played really good soccer and the quality of player
and the character of player because Steve was very I think selective about the types
of people he wanted to work with.
He was looking for players that wanted to get better and that the development aspect
of the game was very important to them and so he very much wanted players that were aspiring
to the next levels of their game or of the game in general and so when I went in he knew
very well that I wanted to aspire to be on the senior national team and so he treated
me and had the standards and expectations for me of someone who wants to be on the national
team.
In your first season you got through to the NCAA tournament and in the first round against
William and Mary, the college equivalent of Brighton and Hove Albion and Trinidad and
Tobago, a Virginia versus Virginia matchup, an I-64 Derby that I'm always trying to make
happen as the country ham Derby.
The Cavaliers were victorious on penalties and he told us so in extra time, you Becky
Sauerboon had a chance to win it, the ball fell to you.
Well tell us where you were, tell us what happened, take us back to that moment.
Yeah I was up on a corner kick, you know I love when I get to get forward on the set
plays and the ball just drops right in front of me, I'm like two yards out and literally
if I had toe poked it anywhere but where I did it would have gone in and we would have
gone up and then not had to go through the whole stressor of penalty kicks which is really
quite draining especially when you have to then play another game you know 48 hours later.
You just didn't get clean contact.
Oh I did, it just got blocked because I hit it to the one area that I should not have
hit it to.
That's so common, it's like genuinely the something about the brain that in moments of
panic or moments of just impulse that you actually do kick it off and right at the goalkeeper
or the defender or whatever but I believe it's a chance that you still dream about even
now all these years later which I love, you have achieved so much, you've done so much.
I've got so many questions, how do these dreams usually look for you?
Like when do they come?
Is it like when stuff is stressful on the field, it's just that old dream coming, is
it like watching a replay on TV and the goal just gets further and further away every time?
Oh no, it's very much like I'm watching a movie so I'm not even within myself seeing
it through my own eyes, I'm seeing me and it's just play by play the same exact thing
and I just, it wakes me up, it's like a, I also have other dreams where I like pass it
back to the goalkeeper and it gets intercepted, like even mistakes I have never made I have
dreams about and it just wakes me up.
No, it's amazing.
It's terrible, it's terrible.
Is this common?
For me or for athletes?
No, I mean I know, I once asked the manager of the, Cesar Prandelli, the manager of the
Italian team in 2013, they were about to play Spain in the final of the Confederations
Cup and I asked him if he can sleep, if he has not, if his painting was a buzz saw and
he just said, oh, good question, I try and instruct my players to have positive dreams,
I want them to have validating dreams, reinforcing as if he could control them, he just sounded
wonderful like a madman.
But like genuinely, you are dreaming about mistakes you have not even made.
Oh, absolutely and I've talked to Julie Foudy about this and she has also said that she
has had dreams like this and it literally like jars me awake thinking about it and I'm
like, okay, I have to be very protective of my back passes to the goalkeeper because I
don't know if this is like an omen or what, but I now have to be very aware of it.
The crossover of MIB listeners with Freudian Dream Analysts, please email us in at menandblazersatgmail.com.
I'm genuinely fascinated for so many reasons.
I've got a friend, the writer named Howard Jacobson, who's a massive, massive ping pong
player also and he says ping pong players always remember and obsess over and dream
about not their many victories, but only their agonizing failures.
And awesome vendor want said to me that attackers are people in life who love to win and focus
on the positive and defenders are people who hate to lose and focus on always the worst
possible outcome and preventing it.
Oh, I 100% agree with that.
And I think what's so great about being an attacker is that you can be irrelevant for
89 minutes.
No, no, no, 90 plus minutes.
All you need is at two seconds.
You score a goal.
You're the hero.
Whereas a defender, you're perfect for 90 plus minutes and that one back pass that gets intercepted
and now all of a sudden you're the reason the team loses.
It sucks.
It really sometimes as a defender, you're like, why do I choose this?
Why do I do this to myself?
That last sentence is chapter 27, which would come after chapter 26.
Remember listeners, goal scoring.
I can see what the first is all about.
But back to the tournament, bad news, spoiler alert, you're lost in the very next round
against Villanova.
Pelletis again, brutal way to go out of any tournament.
But you told us a very funny story about that experience that right after the defeat and
whatever celebration of a tournament well learned came after it, you had to get up the
very next morning tired, still gutted, still reeling from the loss the night before and
give a presentation on the semicolon to get English literature class.
And I can't think of a better representation of what it means to be a college athlete than
that.
It was, it was terrible.
You know, you lose your first season, the way that we did.
We were expecting to go way further than just the second round and we lost in P.K.'s another
terrible way to lose a match.
And we go and do, you know, what college kids do.
And so I get to bed super late in my dorm.
You know, I have an eight o'clock introductory to English class.
You know, my alarm goes off.
I wake up and I'm like, do I go to class?
And then realized, yes, I must go to class because I am giving a presentation on the
semicolon.
And you know, obviously as English students, you can't go without knowing how to properly
use the semicolon.
So I did eventually trek into my class and give a very sad presentation on how to properly
use that grammatical tool.
Possibly the most bleary-eyed and saddest presentation of when to use a semicolon and
when a mere comma will suffice.
We do need to segue in this podcast in this moment as an informational benefit to the
entire listenership.
When do I use a semicolon?
And when will a comma suffice, make you sound like?
I would love to know if you actually think I do know this, but I do.
I do.
You use a semicolon between two sentences that can stand independently but are logically
and reasonably connected.
And so it's not as strong as a period but not as soft as a comma.
Listen to Becky and not Rod, she just says, use a semicolon kid when you want to look
sophisticated and cool.
But we've got a lot of young listeners who are trying to find that balance between student
and athlete.
So what advice would you give to them on how to make sure that they're able to be successful
at both?
I would absolutely say use the resources available to you and I can't even remember
if it's like student hall or just the resources, the TAs that are made available to the athletes,
the tutoring.
There's so much that I wish I had used looking back, especially when you're taking intro
to political theory as a first year like I did and I didn't know anything about politics
and really I should have just used the TA and found some help and someone explained it
to me.
So yeah, use the resources because fortunately in college there's so much that's made available
that just doesn't get utilized.
We talked a little earlier about Steve Swanson, your coach, first at youth national team level
and then a UVA and how he had you work on some of your long range passing.
You've said that Steve was also a big proponent of the use of film and then he'd sit you
down and show you footage of Italian defenders like Maldini and Canavore.
My lord, that must have been mind blowing for a young footballer to watch them on film
when they weren't available on television right back then and you could see how they
read the game and look at your own footage and compare.
What was that like?
Unbelievable to be honest and like you said, I had never watched the Italian national team
play anything ever and so he had clips just at the back line and you're just seeing how
this unit is working together, stepping the line, dropping the line, condensing space and
just how well they dictate to the attackers where they can and cannot go.
And to me, you know, at that point as a defender you're thinking you're still quite reactionary.
Like you have to react to what the attacker does and Steve basically is like blowing my
mind being like, no, you can actually dictate where the attackers go, what decisions they're
going to make so that it's easier for you to read.
And so I'm watching Maldini, watching Conavaro and then switching over to my film and you
can just see that the attackers are dictating everything to me.
They're running the line basically.
And so to be able to see that and then to start applying that into my game and it was
like, revelation really because so much of my game now is not reactionary but being
proactive and figuring out how do I run this line in a way where there's not enough space
for them to run in behind or they can't receive the ball off the front.
They're only allowed to go wide.
You know, those things make such a difference in a game, especially when you're going against
amazing players like an Alex Morgan or a Sam Kerr or a meet-a-mout, you know, so to learn
that at that age was so important to my career.
God, I used to watch Maldini and Conavaro and the only thing I took of it into my game
was to stop playing when my colours flipped up.
So be like Becky, not like Rodge.
That is the pathway to success.
Going into your last season at UVA, not an amazing time, if we're being honest, in the
history of women's soccer in this nation, the then-pro-lee WSA, Woosa, that just folded.
There were no real realistic, fully professional options for you at that point in time.
So coming out, what did you think was really possible that the sum, the pathway for you
on the field?
Yes, the WUSA had folded while I was in college or right before college started and there was
no talk of the WPS or any other league starting.
And I was really sad thinking like this could be my last real competitive year of soccer
because even internationally the game hadn't been to a point where I felt like I could
go overseas and actually make a livable wage.
And so just really sad and thinking like, oh my gosh, I'm actually going to have to
become a teacher and get my teaching certificate and go through that whole education process.
And just knowing that my heart wasn't fully in it because I still had so much soccer I
wanted to play.
And even Steve noticed it and he brought me in sometime before my fourth year started
of soccer and he was just like, what's going on with you?
And I just had to tell him.
And he's like, well, why would you let that ruin your last year, if it is your last year
of competitive soccer?
Like you never know what's going to happen or how the soccer landscape is going to change.
And so he kind of, you know, rited the ship for me and let me know that what you have
left, you still have to really appreciate it and give it your all because you just never
know what the future is going to hold.
You were taking the field back, you thinking, these are my last games as a woman footballer.
This is this is it.
This is the end.
This is the end of the road.
Very much so.
And it really, really made me sad because I loved the game and I wanted to keep playing.
And I probably would have gone overseas if the WPS hadn't started.
But thank goodness it started.
Where?
Where would you have gone?
Probably would have gone over to Germany because at that point they've had the most
professional, but I would still say that a majority of those teams were still unpaid.
You know, a lot of those women still had full time jobs and they were playing in the evenings,
practicing and playing games on the weekend.
How far we have come.
How far we still have to go, but how far we have come.
Did you have a plan B, a sour-bruen road not taken?
Yeah, I was in the master's program at UVA to get my license in education for English.
Like I was doing student teaching in a middle school in Charlottesville and I was like in
class and just all these hormonal teenagers and I'm trying to just trying to do is like
a lesson.
And I'm like, I don't think this is for me.
Like my mom for her entire career was a middle school American history teacher and she loved
it.
And I was like, oh, I could be a teacher.
My mom really likes it.
And I was in student teaching.
I was like, nope, this is not for me.
God.
I was like, I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
I'm going to be a teacher.
As a defender, when you have someone at that sixth spot that can be as disruptive as JJ,
you can be a little bit more braver in your own actions.
You can be a little bit more front-footed.
Obviously, as a defender, you very much have to protect the space behind you.
When you have someone that's disrupting and causing these attackers to take bigger touches
to avoid her or to go long to avoid her, it's so much more easy to read.
It's so much more obvious.
You get to be a little bit more sort of in brave.
That's very influential, the presence that she has.
It's a lot of gravity and the people around her can feel that.
That's really remarkable.
I can't say that I've played with a whole lot of players that can do that on the field.
Another big talking point from the past month of NWSL, the rise of the youngers.
First of all, 18-year-old Alyssa Thompson, who just seems to score.
Banger after Banger every week.
You've seen Alyssa up close in training with the national team a few times now.
As a defender, what do you like to play against?
What is it that makes her such a possibly singular talent?
What I think is so great about Alyssa is that she's brave and you would think as this young
18-year-old coming into the senior team or onto the professional level that you would
play a little timid.
She's like, no, I'm going to run at you.
I'm going to do these moves.
I'm going to do no look shots like her last goal, the no look shot at a terrible angle
because the post-in goes in.
You're like, who does that?
I know seasoned vets who wouldn't even try that.
She's like, yeah, I'll do that.
It's remarkable for someone that age to play like that.
Her bravery and her skill level, she's obviously super skilled with what she's got.
It's great to see and young players coming up.
The goal you're referring to, if you are listening to this, go and find it against Kansas
City.
This is Tom some picks up the ball, she cut inside, she was on the byline.
An acute angle would go, well, that's an acute angle.
I think about 99.99% of players would pass somehow and love to speak to her about it,
what she saw.
It looked like she saw maybe a crevice of an angle.
In a second, less than a second, she's like, yeah, fancy my chances.
You're going to learn something that she used to say to me.
She's a young player sometimes don't know that they should be afraid.
He used to like to pick like, you know, DeAndre Yedlin was like 1819 when he came to you.
He was just like, he doesn't know he should be afraid.
I watched her list of Thompson and I hear Jürgen's head in that slightly awful German
accent impression that I just unleashed on the world.
But at least it currently seems, she seems utterly fearless.
She does.
She absolutely does.
She keeps that forever or as long as possible because to play like that, to play with that
much freedom and she very well could think that she's got a lot of weight on her shoulders.
She's this young star coming into this big team.
She's being touted as this next amazing thing.
The team clearly plays like to her through her.
She could feel that pressure.
She could feel that weight and right now it just doesn't seem like it bothers her at
all.
That's lovely and I hope it stays like that.
I love that we have come full circle in this conversation from, you know, circa 18 year
old Becky Sauerbrunn to 18 year old Alyssa Thompson.
And it has been wonderful to listen to this part of your story.
But I want to ask you before we go.
Up top, I did mention you are a voracious reader.
I think it was one of the things I first, when we first met when I first interviewed
I really loved talking to you about and I am a have to be candid.
Envious of your proximity to the mighty pals bookstore in Portland, stacks upon stacks.
So Becky, tell us what you're reading right now and what you've learned from it.
Well, my most recent trip to Powell, Zola, we were obviously in the fantasy and science
fiction section and he was like, Hey, I think I found this book that you would like.
And so he.
Zola, your partner.
So he grabs it and it's Kings of the Wild, Nicholas Ames.
And I read the back and it's like the combination of the movie Hangover with the movie Road Trip
but as mercenaries.
So it's this like super fun road trip.
These mercenaries that have gotten like kind of old, kind of fat, kind of drunk, but they
have to get the band back together because one of their daughters is in trouble.
And so this is the first one.
Obviously I read it in like three days.
So I had to get the sequel and then I'm reading the sequel, Bloody Rose.
What'd you love about that?
Is that Rose LaVell by up it?
Wouldn't that be amazing?
Bloody Rose.
Bloody Rose.
What do you love about this book by the way?
I love that it can take me through the spectrum of emotion.
Like I'm laughing at the top of one page and then my heart is getting crushed at the bottom
of that same page.
And so any time an author can like take me through that spectrum, I'm just like, this
is amazing.
And it's fun, it's heartfelt.
It's like got all those things that you want when you're trying just to escape reality
a little bit.
Oh bless.
You know, we had Andrew Luck on a couple of times and he talked about his love of books
and I just said for a joke, I was like Andrew Luck, you should start the Andrew Luck book
club and he did and it was magnificent.
I just see a Becky Sauer rune book club is really the thing the world needs.
It's what we all cry out for right now.
But I also love telling you talk about the narrative of that book.
It's like the road road trip and the hangover with mercenaries.
I can imagine you pitching that in Hollywood somewhere and people can like, yep, we're
going to green light that bad boy.
Right away.
Last quick one.
I've got to ask you this Becky Sauer rune.
Do you like my hat?
Oh, for those listening to this.
So white baseball hat made by the mighty folks at talisman with a Becky Sauer rune on it.
Have you seen this before?
What do you think of Becky Sauer rune?
The hat.
Oh, it just, it makes me so happy because that means that our players association and
the merchandise and kind of, you know, we've been trying to create branding with the national
team that's apart from the federation that can just like get out there into the public.
And so you're wearing my hat, which means that someone somewhere went on to the site
for our players association.
We fought so hard to take back our name, our image, our likeness because we didn't feel
like it was really being tapped into in the marketplace.
And so during our negotiations for our CBA, we asked for that back because we wanted to
start our own branding.
And so you buying that hat or whoever bought that hat went on to our players association
site and that hat is really a culmination of a lot of work, a lot of thought, a lot of
player input.
And so thank you for buying that because that's so awesome.
This is amazing.
You just see viewers, Becky Sauer rune on an incredible hat.
I mean, what we're really glimpsing is the future of the game and the women players taking
control and possession of their own future economic rights.
There's many things that are truly magnificent about this beauty.
But I will just say, Becky Sauer rune on the hat is the only thing that's better than
a hat on a hat.
To you, Becky, to your health and your healing, speak to you next month, Big Big Love.
Thanks Raj.
Always a pleasure.
Courage.
Hey, Prime members, you can listen to Men in Blazers ad-free on Amazon Music.
Download the Amazon Music app today.
Or you can listen ad-free with Wonder E Plus in Apple Podcasts.
Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at wonderry.com slash survey.