Monday brought news that head coach Stephanie White was leaving the Connecticut Sun, followed by speculation that she would be moving to a new team in the coming days. White was the seventh head coach to leave or be fired in the WNBA this offseason, meaning a majority of the league’s twelve teams will be under new leadership next season. Considering the explosive growth the league saw in 2024, it’s clear that the stakes are ramping up for leaders at every level.So with college basketball tipping off next week and the intrigue of the WNBA offseason heating up, Alexa Philippou looks back at the year that was, examines the college stars ready to fill Caitlin Clark’s shoes, and explores what it all means for where this game is going in 2025 and beyond. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the eve of November, the college football calendar finds itself in a rare situation for this time of year as it is chock full of chaos.From undefeated teams looking to make school history, to historic powerhouses trying to hold on to their relevance, all eyes are now focused on what’s next and who will be able to claim the coveted spots in the expanded college football playoff.And this looks to be the new normal as NIL, the transfer portal and conference realignment have given birth to a whole new era of college football that has definitely shaken up our Saturdays.So today, our omniscient college football expert Ryan McGee joins us to break down how it started, how it’s going and why all this chaos might be just what everyone needed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This year, week 8 in the NFL was a holiday. No, not Halloween, but, National Tight Ends Day. And the Tight Ends were front and center, none more than George Kittle - the holiday’s “creator.”But since you heard plenty about it on every broadcast, today, Ben Solak is here to break down the Sunday night brawl between the 49ers and Cowboys. And to explain just how wild the end of the Commanders and Bears game was. To say nothing of the Lions putting up 52 points on the Titans, or the Browns upsetting the Ravens in the Dawg Pound. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yankees, Dodgers, World Series. Those words evoke memories of Major League baseball becoming the national pastime generations ago. Both franchises fielded some of the absolute giants in the history of the sport. Babe and Jackie. Mantle and Koufax. And today Ohtani and Judge. So as the baseball world gets ready for game one of the Fall Classic, we turn to Claire Smith, a legend in her own right, to tell us about the legacies of these two teams. And to put into perspective the passing of another legend, Fernando Valenzuela, who played a part himself in this historic rivalry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The story told of World War II and America is one of triumph over the Axis powers of Germany and Japan; a time when our entire nation stood together as one. It has served as both an anchor and a beacon of virtue in our nation’s history.But often forgotten from this time is the Executive Order signed by President Roosevelt that called for forcible removal of all Japanese Americans from the West Coast to inland internment camps.This order ripped apart families, their homes and their livelihoods. But as these immigrants and citizens were forced to make a new life, one thing that kept their communities together was the competition and pageantry of baseball.So today, we visit with Dan Kwong, a descendant of those held at the Manzanar internment camp, to hear about how in the coming days, his decades-long quest to bring America’s pastime back to a dark place in American history will finally reach a resolution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There’s one thing for certain, the San Antonio Spurs sure can pick ‘em.From David Robinson to Tim Duncan and now Victor Wembanyama, whenever the Spurs have the No. 1 pick in the draft, they always seem to get their hands on a generational talent. And no one knows that more than lifelong Spurs superfan Shea Serrano, who has lived and breathed all of it. Today Serrano joins us to break down the vibe in San Antonio, gauge how close they are to a championship, and game out how long Gregg Popovich, the architect of it all, will stick around. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The NBA season starts tonight, and much has happened since the end of the NBA Finals. The Eastern Conference has loaded up on top, with the Knicks and the 76ers making big moves over the summer to compete with the reigning champion Celtics. Over in the Western Conference there is as competitive a race to the playoffs as ever, where almost every team has a chance to make it to the postseason. Today Tim Bontemps joins the show to survey which off-season moves are most likely to pay off, why the stakes for the champs in Boston are bigger than you think, and why generational change is coming across the league.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Week 7 in the NFL featured several of the biggest regular season battles that we’ve seen this season. While a Super Bowl rematch between the Chiefs and 49ers sort of fizzled out. Games between the Packers and Texans, and Lions and Vikings came down to the wire.And that’s before we even look at the newest toy in Aaron Rodgers toybox.So today, Ben Solak helps us understand all the highlights and stand out moments from Sunday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It wasn’t until the late 1960s that Black men were really allowed to play quarterback in professional football. And it took another 20 years or so for Black stars to emerge at the position. The lineage of runs from James “Shack” Harrris, the first black player to start a season at quarterback in the history of pro football, to Doug Williams, the first black player to start and win a Super Bowl, to Michael Vick, the first black quarterback to go first in the draft, to Warren Moon, the first black quarterback enshrined in the Hall of Fame.But in the past few years, we’ve gone from the presence of a black man under center being remarkable, to being, well, unremarkable. Andscape’s Senior NFL writer Jason Reid literally wrote the book on this, Rise of the Black Quarterback: What it Means for America, and he’s on the show to discuss how we got to this era, and also look at the future of the next man up. Jayden Daniels. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Though the play has been a bit ugly at times, the New York Yankees are sitting pretty with a 2-0 lead over the Cleveland Guardians in the ALCS. Meanwhile, the New York Mets are looking to keep their improbable run alive as they face a crucial Game 4 against the prohibitive favorite L.A. Dodgers. No doubt October baseball takes on a different flavor when both New York teams make deep runs. So today, as these two series swing to new venues, Jeff Passan gives us his insider’s view on the League Championships, including why the Mets and Dodgers have more in common than you may think, and why Yankees v. Guardians is starting to look like varsity versus JV.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices