G’day Good Sport community. Today I’m writing to you from the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, where I treated myself to a day-pass to their members-only area. I also treated myself to the Whole Foods hot bar across the street but that’s neither here nor there.
Working on Good Sport in a booky environment makes me think about one of my favorite cultural intersections: Literature x Sports. When I was in college, I took a writing course where we read So Many Olympic Exertions by Anelise Chen. It’s an experimental debut novel, where Chen combines autofiction and sports writing to create a world where her protagonist—a grad student and former competitive swimmer—gets back in the pool to help cope with anxiety and grief. Chen uses athletics as a lens to explore the human psyche around winning and quitting in a capitalist society that demands success, and causes collapse.
I first read the book in 2018 and it remains a favorite to this day. It’s a great read, especially if you are a former youth sports standout who still has stress dreams like it’s game day.
Anyways. Here’s your newsletter :)
On the Good Sport podcast: Ashtyn Butuso—Co-Founder and EIC of Flagrant Magazine, writer and on-screen host at Offball, and renowned courtside baddie—joined the pod to talk sports-head roots, what’s missing from women’s sports media, her favorite interviews, and more. Listen wherever you get your pods.
NYC women’s sports news & culture
Here’s what you should know this week.
The NY Liberty take an L in ATL. We are 0-1 against Angel Reese and The Dream after yesterday’s Game 1 of the semifinals series. A boy whose job involves cords helped get the game on the TV at my friend’s housewarming party and well, that’s allyhood. But soon he saw my anguish. The Dream scored 32 points off 21 forced turnovers. Their relentless defensive pressure combined with our struggle to make shots allowed them to defend their lead, even after we got some things going in the last quarter. Next game is in Atlanta on Wednesday. LFG Libs.
Addressing the Liberty swagless allegations. It’s been said on various WNBA internet corners—and to me directly via iMessage from one beloved unnamed Sparks fan—that our players are devoid of swag. While I can’t say much to defend some recent fashion choices from Stewie and Sabrina…I must remind everyone to not sleep on the limitless swag of Jonquel Jones. JJ reposting my ode to her best fits speaks for itself.
Rose Lavelle signs through 2029. Oh happy day. Gotham FC extended its contract with the star midfielder for three more years. When we signed Sam Kerr I was starting to sweat about how all the numbers were going to work under the $3.7 million NWSL salary cap. We have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to personnel, and they all deserve to get paid. Lucky for us, the Gotham front office seems to know how to make it happen in the spreadsheets—and they also got very lucky with the timing of the new (and controversial) High Impact Player rule, which allows clubs to spend up to $1 million outside the standard salary cap to sign or retain elite, highly marketable global stars. This rule is often called the “Rodman Rule” as it was introduced in 2025 to keep Trinity Rodman from moving to a European club. While it seems to be doing the job of keeping stars in the States, the NWSL Players Association (NWSLPA) heavily criticized the rule, arguing it was implemented without proper bargaining and creates a restricted parallel pay system instead of a general cap increase. Two things can be true at once: I am stoked we got Rose signed before she could get swiped as a free agent, and I want the NWSL to create a salary environment that doesn't shaft 95% of the players in the league.
Pro women’s hockey is 62 days away. The PWHL dropped the 2026/2027 season schedule last week, and the NY Sirens have their home opener at Prudential Center on Sunday, December 6th against the Boston Fleet. I’ll be recovering from surgery so I can’t be there IRL, but trust I’ll be watching on ION, where you can catch all of the games. Not paid marketing for ION it’s just the truth. WEE WOO!
What to watch this week
Wednesday 10/7
🏀 The Liberty are at the Atlanta Dream at 7:30 pm ET for Game 2 of the WNBA Semifinals. Watch on ESPN.
Friday 10/9
🏀 The Liberty host the Atlanta Dream at Barclays Center at 7:30 pm ET for Game 3 of the WNBA Semifinals. Watch on ESPN2.
Saturday 10/10
⚽ The USWNT plays in a friendly match against reigning World Cup champs Spain in Washington DC at 2:30 pm ET. Gotham FC players who’ve been called up to the team include Tierna Davidson (Defender) and Rose Lavelle (Midfielder). Watch on TNT or HBO Max.
Sunday 10/11
🏀 The Liberty host the Atlanta Dream at Barclays Center for Game 4 of the WNBA Semifinals, if needed. TBD on tip-off time. Watch on ABC.
Classifieds
Shouts and calls from the community. Plus some jobs.
✷ Stay Pressed is dropping custom Liberty merch ✷ Stay Pressed is a design duo creating offbeat screen-printed merch for your favorite New York sports teams. Their goal is to make clothes for sports fans who don’t feel represented by a classic jersey. They produce art that disrupts the system of overconsumption with hand-made, small-batch pieces from one fan to another, and they’ll be selling their latest drop at Blazers soon. More here.
✷ Street Lab is hiring Soccer Staff ✷ Soccer Streets—Street Lab’s pop-up youth soccer initiative that takes place in front of public schools—is hiring field staff for the fall. Apply and learn more.
And fin…
Thanks for reading. Go Liberty, talk to you next week!