Kate Fagan brings a much needed perspective on the sport. The former ESPN columnist and commentator now works for Meadowlark Media, where she co-hosts the Off the Lining Glass podcast with Jessica Smetana. Faghan is also one The New York Times The best-selling author will release her third book, Hope Muse: An Insider’s Guide to Pop Culture and the (Women’s) Game in March.
The adorable ad recently appeared with Fagan to talk about a variety of topics.
Has Britney Greiner’s situation brought attention to the plight of WNBA players abroad?
“There’s a much richer topic of discussion than ever. What happened to Britney was the worst-case scenario that’s ever been pointed out. When the mass shooting happened in Turkey, the players played the game. It does. There has been constant debate about how difficult it is to play overseas and how dangerous it can be at various levels. Britney is now a global example of all of that.
What was your reaction to Greiner’s former college coach, Kim Mulkey, not being more supportive of her?
“I was surprised. You’d think that no matter how deeply you hold grudges, there would still have to be some circumstances to resolve past differences. One of those would be, you’d think, your ex-player who won you a national championship. Win a trophy that has been illegally detained by a foreign government.
It sounds alarming that he failed to say the least, doesn’t it?
“When I read that, I was upset.”
What progress has been made in women’s sports in the last decade?
“A lot of people understand the barriers to economics. And I’m not talking about how much each franchise makes, but all these barriers that are baked into the system that limit women’s sports in ways that are solvable. Like television. Rights deals and marketing deals. I think a lot of people realize that if you give women’s sports a chance to sell itself and see what it’s worth on the open market, there’s a ton of room for growth and It is undervalued.
What is your new book?
“It’s written by Simone Augustus and illustrated by Sophia Chung. It’s a vivid history of women’s hoops and pop culture. So, it’s like Shay Serrano’s basketball (and other things), but for the women’s game.” .We’re going back to Nasimth and uncovering all the stories of the women who have played the game every year since 1891 and many of them have been buried by history. Like the Native American teams of the 1900s, the Black Barn Storm teams of the 1930s.
How did the idea for your podcast come together?
“North Star As We Grow It strives to create a podcast that really prioritizes fun and humor. Many women’s sports podcasts analyze grievances or discuss ways to exclude women from women’s sports. . We talk about these things but we try to turn them on their head and explain them through a sketch commercial or a mock ad for a show. It took different angles to understand, but we never tried humor and happiness.
Any funniest or memorable moments from being on TV at ESPN?
“The story that haunts me is that I will always fill in for Bob Lee-on Outside the lines. We were doing a show, and the first episode was going to be about Caster Semenya and the Olympic sex test. I wrote a detailed introduction to a topic that you really don’t want to be ignorant about. About 90 seconds before the show went live, the prompter went out. It was a bit of a high-wire act because I’m not Bob Lee. It’s not like I have 30 years of experience to go over dozens of examples of technology failures. I remember wishing we had just done the LeBron part.
“About 10, 20 seconds before I was on the air, they got the prompter back. It was the biggest relief ever to see that.
As a speaker, if something terrible were to happen and you could only save one couple, which one would it be?
“That would be a pair of Clyde Frazier Pumas that my dad got me before he was diagnosed with ALS. They’re the most unique pair of shoes I own. They’re red, low-tops. They’ve got the standard Puma logo on the side. Coming up. They have “Clyde” emblazoned in gold on them. I grew up a Knicks fan, so I guess that’s why my dad got them for me. Walt Frazier was a big part of my childhood.
How did you get interested in shoes? Was it from playing basketball?
“That was definitely the foundation. We were growing up middle class, and I could afford one pair of basketball shoes a year. This was in the late ’80s. I think the Jordan 4 was my first real basketball sneaker. My I remember waking up in the middle of the night when I got them and looking at them in the moonlight. When I was 30 years old, and lucky enough to be on ESPN, if I wanted a few hundred Spending dollars on shoes, it wasn’t once a year. I saw a re-release of the exact pair my parents bought me as a kid. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I can do that.’ Let me buy the shoes again.’ It was the first pair I bought.”
You live in Charleston, SC, which is a big food city. If someone comes from out of town, where do you take them?
“I take them to a little coffee shop called Saitsi because they have this special dish. It’s in a cool part of Charleston, away from the tourist area. Then we usually go to dinner at Renzo’s. They’re great. Pizza does, and they have one of the best cocktail programs we’ve ever seen.
more about Faghan Can be found on her website.
[Top image from TEDx Talks on YouTube]
