Ambition, *NSYNC, and Making Friends with Serena | with Maria Sharapova

Summary

Casuals with Katie Nolan – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Ambition, *NSYNC, and Making Friends with Serena | with Maria Sharapova
Release Date: April 23, 2026
Host: Katie Nolan
Guest: Maria Sharapova

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Overview

In this episode of "Casuals with Katie Nolan," the show blends its usual irreverent banter about sports’ biggest stories (and weirdest headlines) with a deep-dive interview featuring tennis legend Maria Sharapova. Maria joins to talk about her career, the mentality of being relentlessly ambitious, her new podcast “Pretty Tough,” and her journey to friendship with Serena Williams. The episode is energetic, insightful, and, as always, hilariously unfiltered.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Sports News and Banter (00:59–44:55)

Bullfighting Outrage (00:59)

• Opening Segment: Graphic, semi-comedic reporting on a Spanish matador injured by a bull prompts discussion on the ethics of bullfighting.
  • Quote, Katie Nolan (02:34): “Honestly, I’m team bull. I can’t believe we’re still doing this sport.”
• Crew Chimes In: Everyone agrees the bull deserves more respect and the sport is grisly and outdated.

Boston Marathon Highlights (05:39)

• Tampa Terrence Runs Barefoot: Ran Boston Marathon in cargo shorts and barefoot, training unconventionally (Lego bricks, kicking watermelons, forks to feet).
  • Quote, Katie (07:10): “Sick bastard.”
  • Raised over $13,000 for youth programs.
• Jess McLean’s Record (08:03): After a previous race mishap, McLean shatters the US Course record (2:20:49).
  • Quote, Katie (08:41): “With shoes on. Yes, with shoes on.”

NBA & NHL Playoffs (08:58)

• Celtics & Gentleman’s Sweep Debate (10:07):

  • Discussion about what technically qualifies as a "gentleman’s sweep" in NBA playoffs.
  • Quote, Chris (10:57): “It was specifically that fourth game of the series that you need to drop, like a last gasp of...”

• Emotional Fandom: Isabella shares crying over basketball, supported by the crew.

• Trailblazers & Wemby Injury: Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama leaves game early with a concussion; color-coded Trailblazers shirts trend.

  • Crew critiques Bill Simmons’ negative remarks on color-blocked shirts.
  • Quote, Maria (16:17): “Just a horrible take.”

• NHL Playoffs – Bruins vs. Sabres (17:28): Katie recaps the Bruins’ inconsistent playoff start and praises Buffalo’s fan passion but laments Boston heartbreak.

Sports Business Oddities (19:45)

• Mike Vrabel’s Press Conference (20:32): Discussing his scripted apology and the NFL’s lack of accountability/enforcement.

  • Quote, Katie (23:59): “Sometimes I fear the only way to move on from controversy is to never answer for it and hope people forget.”

• World Cup Ticket Woes (25:35):

  • FIFA struggling to sell World Cup tickets in the US; ticket tiers reach absurd prices—over $10,000 for ‘front category A.’
  • Crew ridicules FIFA’s excuses and business practices.
  • Good news: Free rides home for Philly fans (sponsored by Airbnb).

• Soccer Relegation & Expansion (32:10):

  • Leicester City’s ongoing relegation drama.
  • New NWSL franchise in Columbus for $205 million, brainstorming possible team names (Columbus Goosebumps, Discovery, etc.).

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2. Main Interview: Maria Sharapova (45:24–101:00)

Engagement Club & Life Outside Sport

• Maria and Katie bond over being long-engaged and not in a rush for marriage.
  • Quote, Maria (46:00): “What about marriages?”
• Parenting is integrated into Maria’s life before marriage, admitting little urgency.

Launching the “Pretty Tough” Podcast

• Maria's new show centers on the complex nature of female ambition, grit, and the demands placed on high-performing women.
  • Quote, Maria (48:45): “Pretty Tough is about a steely mentality... It’s about a mentality and choosing to have that as part of your lifestyle.”
• Emphasizes the duality of strength and softness, and challenging narrow definitions of female success.

Ambition, Mentality, and Gender (52:47)

• On being unapologetically competitive—discusses the awkwardness some feel about women displaying grit.
  • Quote, Maria (52:47): “I stood up for what I believed in and I was tough... I wanted to win, and I certainly didn’t apologize for it.”

Early Start & Family Dynamics (53:04–55:26)

• Turning pro at 14, staying “normal” thanks to her mother’s influence outside the court.
• No mythologizing the “young prodigy” story: normal childhood blended with elite tennis.

Social Media & Fan Culture (56:01)

• Maria realized the impact of her fanbase through social media later in her career.
  • Quote, Maria (57:26): “The more that I saw that they engaged with my career, the more I wanted to give back to them and the more comfortable I became.”

Friendship & Competition (58:45)

• Honest about prioritizing competition over friendships with on-court rivals.
  • Quote, Maria (59:29): “We’re friendly. But I just wouldn’t play that well [against friends].”

Serena Williams Relationship (60:22–67:37)

• Detailed, nuanced portrait of her rivalry/friendship with Serena, culminating in mutual respect and Serena inducting her into the Hall of Fame.
  • Quote, Maria (65:53): "... so much common ground and respect... when she came on stage, I think was a surprise for everyone. Even my father. He didn’t know."

Mental Game and Resilience (68:52–72:09)

• Horse-blinders mentality kept her focused; coach’s advice that “you put on those horse blinders and you don’t see left or right.”
  • On managing self-doubt:
    • Quote, Maria (71:12): “See, the things you reference—it’s about others. It’s not about them. It’s about you.”
    • To her younger self: “Follow your instinct... if it’s the wrong one, you’ll figure it out.”

Coaching and Family (72:16)

• Letting her dad stop coaching was about growth, not failure. Her dad happily moved into a more personal, less professional, role.

Business Ventures & Style (73:37–79:47)

• Early investor in Supergoop, founder of Sugarpova, and designer at Cole Haan.

• Only invested in brands she authentically loved as a consumer.

  • Quote, Maria (76:19): “As a female athlete, your time will come, and it will come much sooner... I started taking a few bets on people and companies I was impressed with.”

• Approach to on-court fashion: athlete needs to feel comfortable, not flashy.

Life After Retirement (80:00–83:03)

• Identity shifted to “athlete in spirit,” not only in job title.
• Kept learning: internships, shadowing leaders, prepared for post-tennis life.

Parenting Philosophy (83:05–88:51)

• Parenting her young son: ambivalent on whether to push him toward tennis; values following instincts over prescriptive advice.

• On working-mom guilt: embraces the difficulty and stays committed to showing her son female ambition can coexist with motherhood.

  • Quote, Maria (87:23): “I don’t shy away from moments that make you feel challenged or hurt... when I commit to [work], then I come home and I'm able to be a mom.”

Fun/Light Segment: “Maria Shara-Blank” Game (95:49–100:04)

• If she could share a tennis court with anyone: Madonna (“First person that came to mind!”)
• Basketball court: Luka Doncic
• Boxing ring: “Perhaps a journalist. I don’t know. Not one comes to mind.” (97:20)
• Karaoke mic: Katy Perry, would sing Cher’s “Do You Believe in Love”
• 10-hour flight: Chelsea Handler
• Milkshake: her son (strawberry, like mom)
• Dream Pretty Tough guest: Marina Abramović (Serbian performance artist)

Quick Hits: Life Today

• Maria’s body: shoulder still aches post-retirement, but she’s overall good (“I don’t have to serve, so it’s fine.”)
• Does she watch tennis? Yes, major tournaments as a fan, no urge for TV commentary.

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3. Listener Mailbag (101:00–End)

• Trail Blazers Fan Voicemail (104:42): Maria from Portland laments new owner’s cheapness—skimping on playoff support, staff, and player accommodations.

  • Quote, Katie (108:27): “I’m really at critical mass with billionaires. You’ve got money to buy these things and then cut costs. This sucks.”

• Emma Hayes and Hello Kitty Merch (110:54): Crew discusses U.S. Soccer’s new Hello Kitty line after coach spotted wearing the hat.

• Softball Umpire Query (112:45): Teacher/aspiring umpire wonders if the official rulebook’s tone (“unless you are COMPLETELY dedicated, don’t do this”) should scare them off.

  • Crew: “Who’s more dedicated than you?”

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Memorable/Notable Quotes

• “Honestly, I’m team bull. I can’t believe we’re still doing this sport.”
  – Katie Nolan (02:34)

• “Pretty Tough is about a steely mentality... as someone that goes through a very busy life of being a mother and entrepreneur... you don’t have to choose one or the other.”
  – Maria Sharapova (48:45)

• “We were the greatest of competitors... at the end of the day, we have so much respect for each other.”
  – Maria Sharapova on Serena Williams (63:30)

• “Sometimes I fear that where we’re at as a society is that we’ve taught people the only way to move on from controversy is to never answer for it and hope people forget.”
  – Katie Nolan (23:59)

• “See, the things you reference—it’s about others. It’s not about them. It’s about you.”
  – Maria Sharapova (71:12)

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Notable Timestamps

• 00:59–05:33: Bullfighting discussion, panel intros, and Maria arrival teaser
• 05:39–08:54: Boston Marathon oddities & heroics
• 08:58–17:09: NBA & NHL Playoffs banter
• 20:32–23:59: Mike Vrabel press conference reaction
• 25:35–29:55: World Cup & FIFA ticket pricing outrage
• 32:10–38:49: Relegation & Columbus NWSL team name brainstorm
• 45:24–101:00: Maria Sharapova interview:
  • 46:00–47:12: Engagement and marriage talk
  • 47:58–51:35: Podcast concept and prepping for new challenges
  • 53:04–55:26: Childhood, parents, early career memories
  • 58:45–60:11: Friendship in tennis and the media
  • 63:30–67:37: Dynamic with Serena Williams, Hall of Fame story
  • 68:52–72:09: Mental approach, advice, confidence
  • 73:37–79:47: Business—Supergoop/Sugarpova/Cole Haan
  • 80:00–83:03: Life after tennis/learning/identity
  • 83:05–88:51: Parenting philosophy, guilt, role modeling
  • 95:49–100:04: “Maria Shara-Blank” lightning round

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Tone

• Conversational, comic, and deeply personal: The crew’s running jokes, willingness to riff on everything from Hello Kitty to diarrhea-inducing Panera bread, and raw vulnerability (tears for the Knicks, Serena and Maria’s reconciliation) create an environment of genuine connection that’s both informative and entertaining.
• Maria is thoughtful, direct, and resilient: She brings a humble candor when discussing her mental approach, competitive fire, wins, losses, and what it means to be ambitious as a woman—in sport and in life.

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For Listeners Who Missed It

• The first half offers hilariously chaotic yet insightful sports banter, hitting on marathons, playoff heartbreaks, and the business of sport.
• The second half is a rich, reflective, and often funny interview with Maria Sharapova, exploring ambition, competition, personal evolution, business, and unexpected friendship.
• Notable for Maria’s insights into mental strength, gender perceptions in sport, and the skillful, heartfelt storytelling about her life and legacy.

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Listen if:

• You want to feel sports are recess, not homework.
• You love hearing women in sport and business tell it like it is.
• You care about everything from tennis tactics to the price of World Cup tickets.
• You ever had a favorite boy band or still crave a strawberry milkshake with Oreos.

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Next Up:

• Maria’s podcast “Pretty Tough,” now available everywhere.
• More listener questions and sports stories—send yours to [e-mail] or call 646-801-0043.

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Final word, Maria Sharapova (on confidence):
“Follow your instinct. Most of the time it’s correct. Don’t hesitate. Just make a decision, move on with it. If it’s the wrong one, you’ll figure it out.” (71:24)

Transcript

[Katie Nolan]

You know that feeling when there's a spark building inside of you that you were meant for more? That's your own drive pushing you towards what's next. Capella University gets that with their flex path learning format. You can set the pace and earn your degree without putting life on pause. You've built experience and know what you're capable of. Now this is your time to turn that momentum into more. The only real question is, what? What can't you do? Learn more at Capella Edu.

[Brady]

It only happens every four years, and this time it's here. The biggest tournament in the world. Stadium shaking, flags waving. This is history, and you want to be there. But real life can make it tough. Work busy schedules and the price. That's where Priceline comes in. Priceline has millions of deals on flights, hotels, and rental cars, so you can go see it live. So find a great deal and make the trip happen.

[Chris]

Rally the crew.

[Brady]

Go see the game live. Turn your dreamtrip into reality. Book now with Priceline.

[Katie Nolan]

Hey, Isabella. Did you see that? Well, why would you have. Did you see that? Spain's most celebrated matador, Moronta de la Puebla, best known as king of the bullfighters. Okay. Was seriously injured on Monday after being gored up the rectum. Oh. As he was running away from a bull at an event in Seville. And gore. Gore. Yes. Went in. The big, sharp horn went inside of him. Actually, there's a photo in the dock that we linked, if you want to click on that. I'm scared to look. It's okay. It's not. It's not. It's somehow not gory. While also being gore. Okay. Just click on it. All right. Oh. Oh, my God. I don't know what I was expecting, but it still is a surprise. The way his legs are just, like, closed and.

[Maria Sharapova]

Oh, my God.

[Katie Nolan]

He's sort of. And don't. If you. If you're squeamish, you can look this up. Yeah. There's no blood, I guess. Brady, I should say. If they Google this, will they be. Are there other ones that are gory?

[Isabella]

No, I've seen. They're surprisingly clean photos. Like literal bullseye.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. I've only seen this one where the bull is. It has him up in the air and he's, like, perpendicular to the. And then I've seen the one where there's just a hand covering his butthole. He's laying on the ground, and there's just. Someone has their hand over his hole so as not to, I guess, open a portal into another realm.

[Isabella]

This one we shown Isabella though, the bowl has this man up like he's toasting a marshmallow.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Like he looks hung on it. I know, I know. And honestly, I'm team Bull.

[Isabella]

Team bull all the way.

[Katie Nolan]

I mean, this is. I can't believe we're still doing this sport. This is what also kind of impressive that of all the places he could stick the horn, he chose a hole that was already made. Yeah, like I'm surprised that he. A pre made hole. He didn't make a diff. You know when you like, you know when you need to move a picture, but you can't put the nail hole too close to the already existing nail hole. That's what I feel like he had

[Isabella]

a pilot hole already drilled.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Golly.

[Isabella]

The bull's name should be in the headline. Shout out to this guy. It's the most accurate bull of all time.

[Katie Nolan]

We don't even know who it is. No respect for the bulls. Morante required an hours long sphincter reconstruction thanks to the 4 inch gash left by the bull.

[Isabella]

I hate this sport, so.

[Maria Sharapova]

I hate. I'm so. This is.

[Katie Nolan]

I mean this led me down a. I. We looked into what they do with the bulls after they win or lose these competitions and it's. This is bad, you guys. We should stop doing this. If only just because they're gonna stick their horns up your holes. Yeah, sounds very risky. What was the. There's no other way this should end. But anyway, this is what we chose to start the podcast with Maria Sharapova today. Let's get in. Hello. Oh my God. Hello and welcome to Casuals, a sports podcast for anybody. Doesn't matter if you like them, you hate them. We talk sports with you. And we got a great guest today, which we will get to in a second. I'm Katie Nolan, the host, joining me here at the top. We got the casualties. It's the production crew here at Sirus xm. We have Isabella, sports newbie. Hi. That's Chris, he edits. And then we got B. Brady. Too many bees over there as well. I thought that was a good amount of bees coming up, y'. All. I mean, this is big. The energy in here is different. Isabella, our. Our tennis fan. We've got a big guest coming in today. Maria Sharapova is here. Absolutely incredible. We're going to get into a wonderful interview that we have with her coming up in a little bit. She is a she. One of only 10 women to complete a career grand slam. She's got an Olympic silver medal. She's Maria Sharapova. Okay. Sugar pova. We're going to talk to her in a little bit. Very exciting. She's launching a new podcast that's coming out. Actually think it comes out today when we're recording this. So don't even worry about that. It's out and you can go find it now. Pretty tough. Before we get to Maria Sherpov, a couple things we got to update on. And if I'm honest, it's too many things, as always. So we're going to kind of keep this super speed energy and try to get through all of these stories. Because we had to devote three minutes to a cold open about a bull putting his horn inside of a guy's butt to. Didn't he come out of retirement to do that too?

[Isabella]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And then just to. It's like maybe go back into that bull's.

[Chris]

Been waiting a long time to see that.

[Katie Nolan]

You again. I didn't think I'd have the chance. Good for that bull. Really happy for him. Boston Marathon. I told you guys that was this past. That was this week. It's a big deal in Boston. We love the Boston Marathon. Brady, you found this story of a guy named. Is it Tampa Terrence?

[Isabella]

This guy Tampa Terrence was all over the timelines. He ran the Boston marathon on like 40 days of training.

[Katie Nolan]

What?

[Isabella]

Which is crazy to me anyway because marathons are crazy long and impossible to do. He ran it barefoot to raise money for charity. This is just a dude running a marathon barefoot in cargo shorts to raise money for this non profit that does after school programs and helps at risk kids in and around Boston. He's from Boston originally. Now he's Tampa too. Parents raised over $13,000. This guy's just out there running the entire Boston Marathon on the road on gravel, just slapping his bare feet on the asphalt and what over and over.

[Katie Nolan]

The charity refused to. They didn't want to. Nobody wanted to give money. Unless he took his shoes off. Why did he have to take off his shoes?

[Isabella]

I think he gets more attention by not having.

[Katie Nolan]

I guess. I mean, I guess look at us. We're not talking about anybody else who ran the marathon.

[Maria Sharapova]

True insane to do.

[Katie Nolan]

Well, the craziest part is I see here it says he trained by running on a sp of LEGO bricks, kicking a watermelon until it burst and stabbing his feet repeatedly with a fork.

[Chris]

Gotta harden that up.

[Katie Nolan]

Sick bastard.

[Chris]

That skin off.

[Katie Nolan]

And he trained with only 40 days. So it's like he. Did he finish with A decent time.

[Isabella]

He's under four hours.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, my God. What is going on? I'm sorry. Logo. Brick logo. Lego bricks. Yeah. Ow.

[Isabella]

That's pants.

[Katie Nolan]

That's. This is sick.

[Isabella]

And the whole time he's, like, recording videos, he's talking to people in the crowd. Like, as he's running by, at some point, someone just handed him a fish. He was like, what do I do with this? And they were like, take it. And he just ran like a mile carrying a fish.

[Katie Nolan]

Ew. It's good content on a Monday fish. I feel like. Isn't that the day they tell you not to order fish? Was that cooked restaurant? Oh, good question. If it was cooked, I'm eating that.

[Isabella]

No, just a whole. It's not. This was not like a fish filet. This is just a fish.

[Katie Nolan]

What'd she order? Okay, that. So that's the Boston Marathon, right? Done. Great. Incredible.

[Isabella]

Hold on. Before we go, shout out. Jess McLean.

[Katie Nolan]

That's right, Jess McLean. We talked to you guys about her a month ago. Remember we were talking about somebody was running and they followed a cop car that was the lead pace car, and the car went the wrong way and she just got absolutely screwed with. She had a huge lead and it ended up. She finished, I think, like third or whatever. Instead. That was a whole thing. She actually shattered the US Course record for the Boston Marathon. She finished the marathon in two out. What? 2 hours, 20 minutes and 49 seconds. That's insanely impressive. Feels absurd. With shoes on.

[Isabella]

Yes, with shoes on.

[Katie Nolan]

Marcel the Shell with shoes on. Breaking the previous record by a minute. And. Well, when you do 113, it isn't. She didn't break it by an hour, right? No, she broke by a minute and 13 seconds. That'd be crazy. That's. I'm unmoored. Talking about time.

[Isabella]

The 26 miles in 140 minutes. It's crazy.

[Maria Sharapova]

That's.

[Katie Nolan]

It doesn't even. It genuinely doesn't compute to me. So Congratulations to Jess McLean. Following what she knew to be the route and not listening to anybody else who might get in her way. We got the NBA playoffs going off in the. And the NHL. The Stanley cup playoffs as well. Stanley. Sorry to do this, Homer, but I'm going to kind of focus on the Boston of it. The Celtics. Chris dropped game two to the Sixers. What? You're our basketball expert. What the hell happened?

[Chris]

They shot 26% from 3. That's what happened.

[Katie Nolan]

That's bad, right?

[Chris]

And equally didn't do a good job defending the three. So Philly Was able to, you know, have a much better game from three than the Celtics did. And that was essentially the game. The first quarter looked okay. Second quarter was pretty bad, and it never really recovered from there.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. So the series is tied at one now.

[Chris]

Yeah, that was an anomaly, though. I can't see them doing this again in games three, four, or five. So we'll. We'll see. But yeah, this is an outlier, I'd say.

[Katie Nolan]

I. So that's. This raises the question that I've seen debated online a lot. Is a gentleman sweep the phrase a gentleman sweep? I've seen people argue what the true definition of it is. I know technically it's. It's like letting them. They win one game, and then you basically win all of the other games. But there's debate about whether the ho. The game they win has to be a home game or if it's any game. What's the. Where do we stand on this? What technically is a gentleman's sweep?

[Chris]

A lot of people that we can't get complete consensus, but I think what most people seem to agree is that one particular team wins the first three games, hands the fourth game to the opposition, and then wins the fifth game.

[Katie Nolan]

So this would not technically qualify if.

[Chris]

Correct. I always operated under the assumption that it was just 4:1. Right. Regardless of when that loss came. But most people. Doing some digging, most people seem to suggest that it was specifically that fourth game of the series that you need

[Katie Nolan]

to drop like a last gasp of.

[Chris]

Yeah. Just. You know what? Here you go. We're going. We're going to wrap it up in the next game. You take this one. We'll finish it in game five.

[Katie Nolan]

Isabella, what do you think? Should it apply to any 4:1 final. I think so, because. What is this? Great. So it's just. That's exactly right. Like, what I have to say until, like, the. The fourth game or third game. Well, so it's like Boston. In order for it to be a gentleman sweep, a lot of people think it's like they win, they win, they win. And then the game that they could win to make it a sweep, the other team gets one in and then they finish off. That's not a gentleman sweep. That's a choke sweep. Oh, she's got a choke. The second to last game, she's got a little something. Okay, I like that.

[Isabella]

Is it finding a way to tell somebody they choked while they still won the series?

[Katie Nolan]

Right, right, right, right. So if the Knicks win this series, like 4:1, I'll still call it a Choke sweep. Because what the fuck was that recent game? I mean, you didn't like that? No, I cried. We haven't said this yet. We did this on the radio. Isabella shed her first sports tears. Oh, I felt really embarrassed the first round. But we're, but listen, Isabella. Chris, we have to encourage this. I told her, I was like, there's going to be plenty of opportunities for you to get those tears out. But I, I, she was like, I cried. I was so mad that I cried. I like stood up, I walked out of the room. I went into my bedroom, I shut the door. My boyfriend was like, babe. And I was like, just leave me alone for a few seconds. This is incredible.

[Isabella]

One of us, one of us, one of us.

[Katie Nolan]

You gotta like throw your TV out the window or something. Yeah, we gotta escalate. I'll punch a hole through the wall. I'm so proud of you. Just absolutely so proud of you.

[Isabella]

Didn't help. The mets had lost 12 straight.

[Katie Nolan]

Aw, shut up, Brady. We're on NBA right now.

[Maria Sharapova]

We were talking, talking about Boston. Why is this going up?

[Katie Nolan]

We do have to mention Isabella's Mets specifically have lost 12 in a row.

[Isabella]

It's Wednesday. They've got the Twins tonight.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, so maybe where you're listening.

[Chris]

Juan Sodo's coming back soon though, right?

[Isabella]

Sodo should be back tonight.

[Katie Nolan]

He's coming back tonight.

[Isabella]

He should be back tonight.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, but they need him to. Not only just they, he needs to come back and immediately be hot, which is tough to do. So I, I wouldn't get. Don't put all your eggs in that basket. I won't. Ay yai yai. That whole basket. No. You know, nobody's ever done that before. No one's ever gone on a 12 game losing streak and then made it into the postseason. I know, Katie, I just was making sure. You said it over the radio. Just making sure, just making sure you open. As per my last email, the Trailblazers also evened up the series. Look, I came out on this podcast and said we're not really going to talk about the NBA in the first round because it's pretty boring because a lot of. And then all a bunch of these series evened up.

[Chris]

So that one, though, has a lot to do with the fact that Wemby left pretty early on with a concussion. So when he only plays a handful of minutes, that's a big blow to the spurs. And they still got within, I think three points in that contest.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. What quarter was that? That they second. Yeah, that's tough.

[Isabella]

Wemby went out.

[Katie Nolan]

That's tough. I saw a lot of doctors on Twitter going like, oh, he's definitely fractured his orbital bone. I'm like, you don't know anything. You don't know anything. What do we know? As of right now, he's just in the concussion protoc, which is obviously something that's about player safety. And it's got a number of steps to clear him before he's allowed to play again. And as frustrating as that is, we all have to be patient because it's about player safety and when it comes to your brain, we don't mess around. Okay.

[Chris]

Correct.

[Katie Nolan]

But he. So that's all we know, right? That's the latest.

[Chris]

Yeah. Last I checked, a couple of hours ago, it was still unsure when he'd make his return.

[Maria Sharapova]

Right.

[Katie Nolan]

So 106, 103. The Blazers ended up winning that game. What I'm interested in here. And we get into the trailblazers of it all a little later. Right in the. We got a. Somebody called in to talk about it. So we will talk about that. The. In the game one of this series. Did you see the pictures of all the colorful T shirts they handed out?

[Chris]

Awesome.

[Katie Nolan]

It was awesome. It was like perfectly color blocked. Isabella. It's like a. Sometimes a tradition, you know, they'll hand out like a free T shirt and everybody puts it on. This one was like perfectly coordinated by section so that it was this beautiful, awesome thing. And then during.

[Chris]

Vibrant.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. And then during the game, I loved. They would use the Jumbotron to like put the camera on people who weren't wearing the shirts and bully them. Have everybody go like, put your shirt on. Putting it on. So it was like a. It was awesome and everybody agreed that it was awesome. Except this is where I'll remind you, we're doing a Boston theme here, except Bill Simmons. Let's play the clip. The color coordinated sections. I have some thoughts. You've won five titles as a franchise. That's the time for gimmicks. Act like you've been there before.

[Chris]

They won five titles.

[Katie Nolan]

They had Tim Duncan.

[Chris]

They had one of the 10 best players of all time. Who is there at the game.

[Katie Nolan]

Probably wondering why everybody was in a

[Isabella]

different section wearing a different T shirt. He wasn't wondering because they're the Fiesta colors. He was wearing the shirt.

[Katie Nolan]

You're like Kramer at the age you

[Isabella]

don't want to wear the ribbon.

[Katie Nolan]

You want.

[Isabella]

I just.

[Katie Nolan]

Horrible take.

[Maria Sharapova]

Just a horrible take.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. I don't always agree with him, but yeah, it is a. That is a horrible take. What did you see? I didn't see a single other person. And this is rare in this day and age say anything negative about what seems to be a cool, uniting fan thing. What the hell was this?

[Chris]

It's. It's definitely old man yells at clouds But Bill Simmons isn't.

[Katie Nolan]

We're not. He can't already be old man yells at cloud he was supposed to be the sports guy.

[Chris]

He was supposed to be a long time ago.

[Katie Nolan]

That's crazy. That's crazy. Wow. You heard it here first from Chris Simmons. Over. It's done. He's cooked, he's washed, he's. What else are they saying? He's junk. He's unk. He's cheugy crazy. But hey, NBA playoffs. Ding. NHL playoff tip.

[Isabella]

Not the place for gimmicks, apparently. We can't have fun.

[Katie Nolan]

Act like you've been here. What do you mean?

[Isabella]

None of them have been there.

[Katie Nolan]

It's crazy. Also, he wasn't tip. They were like wearing. Former players were where. They were participating in the Duncan.

[Chris]

Yes, they were. They were wearing it. It was fun. It was like just aesthetically pleasing to watch on TV.

[Katie Nolan]

Beautiful, stunning NHL playoffs. The Bruins. Thank God they won Game 2. I don't know who else is watching hockey as closely as me, specifically this game. Obviously the Bruins I really root for. The last few postseasons have been kind of abysmal as a Bruins fan. All in different ways, you know, really fun. But this year, Panthers aren't in it, so I'm already happy. And then we come out and we lose in Buffalo that first game in a remarkable fashion. Holding a two goal lead for like a. It was a slow build, but two goal lead for a lot of the game. And then with like six minutes and change left, we let them score four goals. We lost the game. And I'm saying we. We don't have time. I'm in a rush this game. Game two. They. The Bruins had the lead again. It gets to like six minutes and they, the Sabers score. And then they score again. And Dan looks at me and he goes, what's going on? And I go, we just have to stay the course. We had a four goal lead. I was like, this is different. We just have to calm down. Thank God they called the timeout this time. Swayman was like forcing Sturm to call the timeout that we didn't call in the first game. But the energy in Buffalo for the first two games of this series have been. Has been fantastic. Did you guys see when they brought Josh Allen out. Oh no, the place went nuts. I mean, this is a fan base, the Sabres, that have been desperate for any sort of relevance in the postseason for their hockey team and they are showing up and they are partying. I said last night I would really be enjoying this energy if it wasn't, you know, contingent upon my sadness that it wasn't actively opposing me and everything I stand for. This would be so fun. So if you're a casual who's looking for like an entry point, the series is shifting to Boston. But though that Buffalo team hopefully doesn't make it out of the first round. But if they do, it's an exciting one to root for because their fans are going nuts. I will say shout out to Ness and our regional sports network in Boston that when Josh Allen came out to bang the drum to get everybody hyped up and the crowd went nuts, they were like bringing Josh Allen to a playoff game. I don't think that's going to work the way you thought that it was going to.

[Isabella]

Josh has a two week old child. You have any excuse to get out of the house, you take it.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, damn, that's true. And thank God the Bruins won. Cuz if Nessen sends that tweet and then the Bruins lose, that would have been just the worst night for me. On a personal level. While we're doing Boston. Hey, Mike Rabel's alive. Oh, Mike Rabel's alive. And he came out and he said something. Now if you are a journalist going, why didn't I know that he was going to come out and say something? That's because the Patriots told everybody it was just going to be two players that had media availability so as to keep the crowd low, I guess, and, and not have everybody who's curious about what Mike Vrabel is going to finally say storm this press conference. And so it was kind of a surprise. Do we have, I mean, I don't even know if it's worth airing. Do we have a clip of the words that Mike Vrabel put together and said at this little shindig, let's play it?

[Isabella]

You know, I've had some difficult conversations with people that I care about, with my family, the organization, the coaches, the players. Those have been positive and productive. You know, we believe in order to be successful on and off the field, you have to make good decisions. That includes me. That starts with me. We never want our actions to negatively, in fact, affect the team. We never want to be the cause of a distraction, you know, and what I those are comments and questions that I've answered for the team and with the team. We'll keep those private and, you know, to ourselves. I care deeply about this football team, and I'm excited to coach them. And what I can promise you is that the. My family, this organization, the team, the staff, the coaches, everybody, our fans, most importantly, will get the best version of me going forward.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay? So apparently, if we want to know more, we're gonna have to sneak a camera in and take a picture of the conversations that he's having with the team, because otherwise, we just don't get any more information, you know? You think that's it? You think that's all we're gonna get?

[Isabella]

You think this is a very standard. I did nothing wrong. But also, I'm very sorry.

[Katie Nolan]

I'm really, really sorry. I also saw people be like, did they. Did he walk back his. Because didn't he say laughable? The original adjective he used was that the pictures were laughable. And I did see somebody asked, and he said, I no longer think that they are a laughing matter. You know, that's just gonna be that. And. And I. And I know that people are gonna be like, but he doesn't have to have journalistic integrity and blah, blah, blah, blah. It. For me, it's got a nuance that I've. I've learned there's no room for here on the Internet, But I just. We're really not gonna. We're really not gonna make him answered for any. Any of it. His role in it in any way, which, again, as a patriots fan, I'm not even saying, like, I want. And it's. It's a real rock and a hard place these two have potentially allegedly put certain fans in, and I'm not a huge fan of it. I would say it rubbed me the wrong way, but that was a whole other controversy we had with the owner. So I don't even think it's worth bringing up. I just. Look, I. That's gonna be it. You know, what it really has been bothering me lately is that. Remember the. The big deal we made about Mike Vrabel knows how hard it is for women in this business, and so he always opens his press conferences by calling on a female journalist. And now you're like, that hits different. You know, it's just like, that hits, like, now I go like, do I actually not like Mike Vrabel the way I thought? It's like, all these things that were building this image, this all kind of goes pretty directly contradictory to it. And yet we don't really ever. We're not ever gonna make him answer for it because nobody's really that mad at him, if that makes sense. So does anyone else want to say anything about this incredibly murky topic that everyone's got guns and knives out about? Anyone else want to offer themselves and their opinions up to the hungry, hungry Internet?

[Isabella]

Sure. The NFL came out and said, we're not investigating his actions. And, like, they will investigate the dumbest, most minute things on the planet for some reason. We're no longer. We're just not caring about the integrity here or just the flow of information or just his relationship with people that you're credentialing. I. You gotta care. Pretend you care. Even if you investigate, it does nothing to come out and say, like, no, we're not even looking into investigating.

[Katie Nolan]

Sometimes I fear that where we're at as a society is that we've taught people that the best, the only way to, like, move on from a controversy is to, like, never answer for it and hope people forget. I, like, hate that. That's the thing. We've. We've shown that if you cop to it in any way, take any sort of accountability for a mistake that you've made, it's really only just going to be used against you as proof that you've done the wrong thing. Whereas if you ignore it, no one can say you did it. So it's like a. I, I hate that. I think that's a sign of things being broken. I think we should hold people accountable for the things they do or don't do. But this seems to be the last we'll discuss this, so this is great. I feel good about that until we hear more. Hey, Katie, you want to segue? Yeah. What do we got? Oh, good. Always fun, always feel good stories to hit that World cup date. You know what that means? It's time for a World cup date. Really. I. I can pretty much tell you what these stories are gonna be just based off of general vibes, but let's hit them anyway. FIFA struggling to sell tickets for the US opener. So a document that was dated April 10 that was distributed to local organizers revealed that only 40,934 tickets to the USA Paraguay game had been sold up to that point. April 10. The match, which is June 12 at SoFi Stadium in LA, is being undersold by multiple other matches taking place in the same building, including Iran New Zealand that has sold more tickets than the. Than the USA Paraguay match. Am I saying, Chris, who are you

[Isabella]

favoring in that one, New Zealand.

[Chris]

I actually don't know the world. I think Iran's probably much higher ranked than New Zealand. To be honest.

[Isabella]

It seems like the two most obscure countries it could possibly be playing in the world.

[Katie Nolan]

Except, you know, Iran isn't. Isn't necessarily obscure at the moment. We're thinking about them quite a bit

[Isabella]

as of right now. They're still scheduled to play.

[Katie Nolan]

They have RSVP yes for sure. Or is it a maybe and they're going to indicate closer to the day? I don't.

[Isabella]

They selected the salmon.

[Katie Nolan]

That's crazy. Okay. The capacity of SoFi Stadium, 69,650 49ers fans. From my experience, the. The athletic reports that fewer than 40,000 tickets have been purchased for the US Final Group Stage match, which is against Turkey and Bosnia. Switzerland has sold 47,000 tickets. What is this, art? Not like our team's very good. I haven't heard a lot about how good we are, have you? I don't.

[Isabella]

So just international fans really just attacking this ticket market more aggressively than people aren't traveling.

[Katie Nolan]

Are the tickets cheaper for the games that don't involve the United States? I would guess that probably. I don't know if the people who

[Isabella]

sell that is true.

[Katie Nolan]

I don't know if the people who sell things seem to be aware of this. It's a tough time out here financially for a lot of people. It seems like something maybe the people who are selling these tickets need to hear, because I don't think it's. It's not clocking to them that we're standing on business. Okay. There's no. It's not clocking. It's not clocking to you. Because front category A, do you remember what that is? It was that they were selling these tickets to people. People were trying to buy these great tickets. And then the front of that section they thought they were buying tickets in has been separated into its own. Own even higher tier called front category A. Those tickets went on sale this morning. Wednesday morning.

[Isabella]

Wednesday morning.

[Katie Nolan]

It's FIFA's new premium category, and they are selling the tickets. I thought this was a typo. I said, hey, Brady, you got a typo in the dock. We got to fix that before we go. And he said, no, no, it's real. $10,990 for a ticket. Yes, exactly. Over seven times higher than the initial December pricing for what we thought was that section of these games.

[Isabella]

Do you feel confident that that is the most elite ticket that they will sell? Because you know damn well if they just turned Category one into front category one. Then we're getting front category one plus premium at some point.

[Katie Nolan]

Because if they go. If some idiot. Let's see if some idiot will spend 10,900. I mean, that is $11,000. Tack the extra 10 bucks on. You know they will at least in Feees. So that's $11,000. And once they, if they get a critical mass of people to agree to that, they'll go, let's try 14. What are they going to do?

[Isabella]

They're going to call the idiot who paid to sit at the WrestleMania just

[Chris]

about to make that point.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, every crypto billionaire. Keep your eye on your inbox because FIFA's coming through with an offer. A giant baby. Gianni Infantino sliding into your DMs to try to get you to send over. What is that, eight bitcoin now? I'm not keeping up with the market. Oh, he said something. Infantino defended the prices. Hold on, let me burp first. Can you make it fart while I burp? We'll just do it at the same time. Sorry, I went first, gorgeous. That's the casuals difference. He said the main and so far the only revenue generating event for FIFA is the World Cup. Oh, you guys are being really mean. This is our only chance to make any money. And God forbid we try to girl boss our way to making a little bit more money. The World cup take. I'm quoting him again. That wasn't him, that was me. The World cup takes place one month every four years. So we gen. Well, every two, everyone. When the women's is the year after.

[Isabella]

Yeah, there are next year.

[Katie Nolan]

You could use the Women's World cup, but let's not get any ideas. The World cup takes place one month every four years. So we generate money in one month. The 47 months until the next World cup, we spend that money. Okay, that is, I don't know, figure

[Isabella]

out some to make some more money. Sell some cookies also.

[Katie Nolan]

Where does the money from the merch go? Does it go to like U.S. soccer? It goes to like the federations instead, I guess. Next episode we'll dig into the finances of FIFA. We'll be the ones to figure it out. We'll get to the bottom of it. They solved racism a little while ago and then they gave Donald Trump a peace prize. So clearly these guys are on the up and up. I think we just have to trust them. It's really hard to make money. The blindness to the world. The Women's World cup there is kind of infuriating. Although I would then be arguing that they should jack up the prices on the Women's World cup. And I don't think I. That's not actually arguing that they should

[Chris]

bring him down for the men's because they're making additional money for the women's.

[Katie Nolan]

Anyway. Just insane to come out here and say there's 47 months until the next World cup, you stupid monster. But okay, good news. Can we end it on good news? Is there a positive sounding fart? No. But here you go. Philadelphia Philly fans getting free rides home from World cup games. They're helping fans get home safely and affordably after the games. Regular fares still apply when traveling to the matches, but free rides are for trips home and you might be going, whoa, FIFA stepped up. Why only in Philly? Well, because it's not FIFA. Airbnb is doing it. Oh, it's a different company doing a smart thing. It is smart. It's a good PR move. It's a good. Whatever they call that. I learned that as a PR major where you like. It's worth investing in this because the headlines it'll get you and the positive will it will buy you with. I mean, Philly fans, very smart. They swooped in and said, we'll pay for this. All six FIFA World cup matches in Philadelphia will give them free rides home on the SEPTA Broad street line. So love that they can run full speed into a pole and eat horse poop to their heart's content on their way to a free. Remember that? That's. Those were the same celebration, right, Isabella? Somebody was running to catch a train after they won the super bowl against the Patriots and ran smacked into, you know, in the subway when there's like poles of. Oh, yeah, yeah. It just ran. Right. I thought you were gonna say they like fell into the poop. No, that was separate. Somebody else voluntarily ate a giant pile of horse poop. I don't think they completed the whole pile.

[Chris]

I'm done.

[Katie Nolan]

Clean plate club. That was just wild. It's sports are mass psychosis. Let's continue. Other soccer news that isn't World Cup. So no more farts. But I can't make any promises about burps. Leicester City relegated again. Tough, Tough. If you're wondering how long ago was it when Leicester City was the big talk of the town and they won in the Premier league? It was 10 years ago. Their historic Premier League triumph.

[Maria Sharapova]

It's.

[Katie Nolan]

That really hurt. But I'd say that so often we gotta just breeze past it. They are now down to the third Division. They've been relegated down. It's real heartbreaking. They were initially relegated to the second division in 2023. Then they went back to the Premier League in 24 and then they suffered another relegation the following season and then they've now dropped to the third tier. This is me during a stretch of college where I did. I moved every like six months. That's what that feels like spiritually to me. Where it's like they are not ever just like staying in the same league. They're constantly like, oh, gotta move, gotta move back. Up, down, down, down, up, up.

[Isabella]

So they went below Wrexham.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, it's tough.

[Isabella]

Started in like the God knows like fifth tier when. When Ryan Reynolds bought that team and Leicester City.

[Katie Nolan]

You gotta also mention Rob Mac with Rob Mack, who now goes by Rob Ma. Wife and children have the confusing to pronounce name McAlan. The reason he changed it, he was sick of people mispronouncing it. They took that name and then he changed his. Yeah, that's are it. Is Rexam getting like knocking on the door of Premier League yet?

[Isabella]

They're sixth in the table in the second tier, so kind of, yeah. They would need to get up to third, I believe.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay.

[Isabella]

I think third is promotion.

[Katie Nolan]

Second is. Is Tottenham in trouble of getting relegated? I thought I saw. I know we don't talk a lot of socks.

[Isabella]

Yeah. I don't think they're talk. They're not there, I don't think. But they have a chance.

[Chris]

I think then now the betting favorites to be relegated.

[Katie Nolan]

Not that we do betting casuals, but it is to inform the discussion. We sometimes mention gambling odds. I don't think we toot our own horn. Enough about the no gambling on this podcast. I gotta start being louder about that. Note to self, Isabella, send me a text. Remind me.

[Maria Sharapova]

I will.

[Chris]

They're currently 18th out of 2020 teams in the EPL. Bottom three get relegated. So they are in the relegation zone at the moment.

[Katie Nolan]

How many matches left? It's. I'm asking you a lot. So if you don't have it there, that's okay. This is sock talk where we talk a lot of sock. Sounds like Zoc, Doc. Yeah. Who don't sponsor this podcast. So put that out while he's looking that up. Shout out to the new NWSL franchise we're gonna get in Columbus. $205 million. The NWSL awarded an expansion franchise to Columbus, Ohio and an ownership consortium.

[Isabella]

Yeah, it's a group of people I love.

[Katie Nolan]

Is it. Am I saying consortium or consortium? It is consortium. It's just an expensive word. It doesn't spend a lot of time in my mouth. Led by the Haslam Sports Group. So that's. They're Flying J. Right? That's where their money comes from. Those truck stops.

[Isabella]

Flying J and trading for Deshaun Watson.

[Katie Nolan]

That's right. That's right. All those smart decisions.

[Chris]

By the way, five games left for Tottenham.

[Katie Nolan]

Yikes. Best of luck to Spurs. You can't. I get so nervous whenever I talk about Tottenham because it's like Hotspur. You're not allowed to say the. And they get real mad. Back to Columbus. Haslam Sports Group, the new Columbus based team will play in 2028. It's a record $205 million expansion fee being paid for the team. Obviously, they own the Browns, the crew. The. That's the. I assume that's the.

[Isabella]

The mls.

[Katie Nolan]

The men's.

[Isabella]

Yeah, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And they have a controlling interest in the Milwaukee Bucks and they have invested in the wnba. And they're joining. The Columbus team will join the NWSL alongside a team in Atlanta, which also will begin in 2028. And that will bring the NWSL up to 18 total teams. Exciting times across women's sports. We. We're gonna start the conversation about what Columbus should name its franchise. And I. I saw a bun in here that I don't know if anyone's feeling excited about. Who wants to get us started on things that Columbus could name their franchise.

[Isabella]

So I knew nothing about the city of Columbus. Earlier. I started this exercise like, all right, Ohio State's there and I think I'm done. Famous people from Columbus. Beverly d', Angelo, Josh Radner, Jack Nicklaus, Simone Biles, Macho Man, Randy Savage, Dave Thomas from Wendy's, RJD2, Guy Fieri and R.L. stein. Which I think this is a perfect time to celebrate RL Style.

[Katie Nolan]

The Columbus Goosebumps.

[Isabella]

The Columbus Goosebumps.

[Katie Nolan]

Turning that down. I like that. Who's saying no to that?

[Isabella]

The kids could be amazing.

[Katie Nolan]

The font on the jersey, that could be sick.

[Isabella]

You start doing, like, their chance. So you have like a Piano Lessons Can Be Murder jersey.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. I kind of really like this.

[Isabella]

All right, Chris, top that.

[Chris]

So my. So I sort of got two suggestions, but they're going to be named after the same person. Either the Columbus Mox or the Columbus Jerry's.

[Katie Nolan]

What does he say?

[Chris]

Named after Jerry. Mock Mox. Yeah, named after Jerry Mock. M O, C, K. Okay. M O, C K. The first woman to fly solo around the world. She began her journey in Columbus. And the Aircraft that she flew was nicknamed the Spirit of Columbus, and it currently hangs in the national Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution.

[Katie Nolan]

Damn. You looked that up, and you were hoping to be able to name it what the plane was called. And then you were like, well, the Washington Spirit already exists, unfortunately, so we

[Maria Sharapova]

have to go with the.

[Chris]

But it just shows how ingrained that aircraft is with the city of Columbus. So if you call it the Columbus Mocks or the Columbus Jerry's. If you call it the Columbus Mocks, it almost sounds like you're saying Columbus Smocks. And they have a big art scene, too. And so.

[Katie Nolan]

And I appreciate the effort, Chris. I think you're doing a really good, good job. And you are an ally, and that is notice. Unfortunately, the Jerry's and the Mocks, it's. I don't. I can't get behind it. It's not Jerry's. If I'm playing against them, I'd go, we're playing the geriatrics this week. I would be using it against them too easily. Fickle Isabella, you got anything? Any ideas? I'm gonna be so honest, guys. I don't. Like. I really was thinking so hard. I was thinking so hard. I was like, what can this be? And I just. I. I really don't know. That's gonna sound like a. Exciting. Like, the Discovery. Aren't they the Discovery City?

[Isabella]

Isn't that Discovery City?

[Katie Nolan]

So the. The Columbus Discovery doesn't have an S on the end.

[Isabella]

Kind of bothers me.

[Katie Nolan]

Did you see this? It'll be controversial, though. What would be Discovery? Yeah, like, with the whole, like, you know, Christopher Columbus discovering, like, I don't know if everybody else would immediately. Oh, I guess, yeah. Columbus. Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Well, isn't. It isn't, like, the history of, like, Columbus. No, you're right. You're right. I just wasn't. I was just still thinking about R.L. stine. If I'm honest.

[Maria Sharapova]

I think that's the best one, honestly.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh.

[Isabella]

The mascot would just be the evil puppet. Oh, man.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Chris]

That.

[Maria Sharapova]

The.

[Katie Nolan]

The ventriloquist.

[Aviv]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Chris]

I say take it one step further. Call it the Columbus purple peanut butters for the. For my favorite Goosebumps book.

[Katie Nolan]

What's purple peanut butter?

[Chris]

Beware of the purple peanut butter. It was the choose your own adventure goosebumps book.

[Katie Nolan]

I remember that. I specifically, but I do not remember anything about purple peanut butter. I just remember flipping the pages, seeing that I had chosen the wrong thing, and I was. And then going like, no, I didn't choose that. 1. I was only kidding. No, no, I was checking to see what an idiot would have chosen, but that wasn't the choice. I wasn't locked. I didn't say final answer. Regis. That hasn't been locked in. All right, if you got any ideas, listeners, you know our email? Oh, I actually didn't say it today, did I?

[Chris]

Not yet.

[Katie Nolan]

Casualswithkatynolen. Gmail.com and then I'm not looking at it. 646-801-0043.

[Chris]

Hell, yeah.

[Isabella]

Let's go. And now you just forgot the radio phone number.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, no.

[Maria Sharapova]

Oh, no.

[Katie Nolan]

It's a whack a mole. One thing down and the next thing goes. All right, so let's come up with a good name for them. Email us, call us, let us know. Speaking of emails and calls, as it is our second episode of the week, we're gonna get into some of your emails and calls, but all of this has to wait because up next, you guys, it's Maria Sharapova. Isabella, it's no secret. We've recorded it already. It just happened. Yeah. How are you feeling? You met Maria Sharapova. I was so cool. I was so giddy the entire time. You did a really good job. Thank you. We made sure to get a picture. I actually think for the episode, for the picture, we should post you and her first and then the second picture can be me and her. Is that cool with everybody? Thank you very much. So, yeah. Coming up next, we're gonna take a quick break. Coming up next, five time major champion, international, Tenn. Hall of famer, and host of her own new podcast. She's a colleague now. She's in the space. Pretty tough. 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[Maria Sharapova]

Let's get to it.

[Katie Nolan]

We're gonna dive right in. First thing I want to start with is that I believe we are members of an exclusive club which is what? Have you been engaged for a minute?

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Same.

[Maria Sharapova]

Not married.

[Katie Nolan]

No.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah. How does it feel? I.

[Katie Nolan]

So for me it's like laziness. It's like not wanting to take that step to plan a wedding.

[Maria Sharapova]

Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

But whenever I meet somebody else who's in the club, I have to ask, ask what it's like for you. I don't know if you know this. We just lost a couple that was beloved in the forever engaged club was Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe. And there's. It seems to be some sort of a general thought that if you've been engaged for a long time, it's a bad sign. And I think we gotta break that stigma.

[Maria Sharapova]

Well, what about marriages?

[Katie Nolan]

What a great point. What a fantastic point. Counterpoint marriages.

[Maria Sharapova]

Well, we were. Did you plan any of the wedding? No.

[Katie Nolan]

That's why.

[Maria Sharapova]

Exactly.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. If that had happened to me, I would never plan it.

[Maria Sharapova]

We had a location, we had a plan in place, and then we had a child. And that. That is a wedding.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. That kind of speeds up the process.

[Maria Sharapova]

Although I. I do call him my husband.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, I kind of do.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah. And everyone gets very confused. They're like, did we not get an invite to the wedding?

[Katie Nolan]

100 exact same. They'll go like, why does this article say he's your husband? First of all, it's not a Real article. Second of all, it's just I'm trying to not let myself do that because then I know I'll never get married. Are you going to eventually do it or you just don't care?

[Maria Sharapova]

We talk about it once in a while, but we just have not made the plan to.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Honestly, if I had started planning.

[Maria Sharapova]

Do you have children?

[Katie Nolan]

No. And we're not gonna. So it's not in the plan. So we're not really. That's. I think, the thing.

[Maria Sharapova]

I don't think you have an excuse then.

[Katie Nolan]

I know, I know. It's just so much.

[Maria Sharapova]

Not that my child is.

[Katie Nolan]

It's just. No, I mean, that is. I mean, your child is a beautiful blessing, but also a good excuse to not ever have to get married.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah. After a certain point.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. All right, well, if you do do it, will you let me know and then I can just piggyback off of your plans?

[Maria Sharapova]

Just the expenses.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes. Please, please, please.

[Maria Sharapova]

We can show the dress.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

And the venue.

[Katie Nolan]

I'm doing my first.

[Maria Sharapova]

And the tent.

[Katie Nolan]

I'm trying on dresses this weekend. I've been engaged since 2022, I think.

[Maria Sharapova]

Oh.

[Katie Nolan]

So it is happening a long time. Well, I need to start. I don't know where to start. Not the dress. Well, that's where I'm starting. I was like, at least I know how to put a dress on, so that's where I'll start. It's the book. What do I know?

[Maria Sharapova]

What do I know? I've never done it before.

[Katie Nolan]

I'll let you know what I learned this week. How about that? It's so cool that you're here. I feel like I can't stop saying that to you. You've got a new podcast coming out.

[Maria Sharapova]

I do. I'm in your space. I love it.

[Katie Nolan]

I know. Are you excited to be a podcast host?

[Maria Sharapova]

I'm excited about this. You know, it's a. A. It's work. It's a business. It's what started as a concept and an idea has turned into a thing, and I'm pouring a lot of time and love into it. And I've, you know, I'm on the other side of asking questions. Like, I used to be interviewed for a majority of my career, and it's a different, you know, I've had to unlearn and learn again. And I love the preparation. I love the people I've spoken to. We just launched with Zoe Saldana. I've loved. It's woman to woman conversation. The name is pretty tough. And it's the juxtaposition between being gritty and leading, not apologizing for it, but also being motherly and soft and elegant and vulnerable and not having to choose one or the other.

[Katie Nolan]

That's amazing. The line that stood out to me in the description I saw was it challenges how female ambition is defined and discussed. And I mean, you are no stranger to how female ambition is defined and discussed and also as an athlete, no stranger for setting goals for yourself and hitting them. I wonder with this podcast, what is your main goal?

[Maria Sharapova]

Well, pretty tough is, is about a steely mentality. It's about a mentality and choosing to have that as part of your lifestyle. As someone that goes through a very busy life of being a mother and entrepreneur and, and traveling all over the world and having a lot of important responsibilities, you don't have to choose one or the other and you don't have to be 100% at each. Right. It's finding your own personal balance of that, but also understanding that, I mean, I come from, I mean I was an athlete for over 20 years of my life. And now interviewing individuals in different walks of life that have had high performing individuals in art and actresses and musicians and business leaders, league owners and understanding like how we know they got there. But what is the story? What is the reality? What is the honest, the honest conversations. Because being an athlete, everything's on the line. It's pretty gritty, it's really sweaty, it's really honest. It's very vulnerable. And I leaned into that for so long, for so much of my career. And now I want to share the stories of individuals, you know, like a genie buss, like a willow bay, like incredible women that have gone to the peak of their careers. But I want to know what's behind the curtain, how they did it.

[Katie Nolan]

It feels like an important time for something like that too. I don't know how much into like how online you are as a person.

[Maria Sharapova]

Online. Yeah, I, I think, look, I've, I've lived it. I, from a young age, people ask me why pretty tough. And I, and I say, well, from a young age I was known for my fist pump and the fist bump was quite aggressive for a few people. Like, it didn't go, you know, people wanted to kind of filter that version of me because it was, it was tough. Like I, and I, I honestly didn't apologize for it, you know, because I knew I had to be focused and I had to be determined and the person across the net was getting in a way of a victory and a trophy and, and I was really honest about it, but equally, I wanted to be appreciated for other aspects and other things that I thought I was good at, and being in a boardroom and being in a business meeting and making important decisions, you know, working on a Nike contract, working with incredible brand partners. So I. I didn't always feel like I had the space and the. The breadth. People didn't really allow that.

[Katie Nolan]

And.

[Maria Sharapova]

And as I speak to my friends now, to, you know, mothers, I feel like business leaders, they feel very much the same way.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. It's like watching the growth of women's sports and seeing a lot of people be introduced to women's sports, new fans coming in every day across various sports. One thing that stands out to me is how strange people are about competitiveness in women. It just feels like they want to watch all the girls be friends. They want to tune in and have all the gals be nice to each other and braid each other's hair. And as soon as you see the competitive fierceness come out, they get very. Protective isn't the word, because protective feels kind. It's almost like they get. Have you noticed this at all, that people just don't like when women competing, they go like, oh, well, that's not right. Everybody should be kind to each other. And. And I just feel like you've always kind of stood in opposition to that, as you should, because sports aren't about everybody getting along and holding hands all the time. They get competitive and intense. And I like that you've always sort of represented a woman that is both a woman in all of the ways that we think of, and you embody your femininity, but you're also like, yeah, I'm here to beat you.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah. Well, I think I stood up for what I believed in, and I was tough and I was gritty, and I wanted to. I wanted to win, you know, And I. And I certainly didn't apologize for it. And. Yeah, I mean, you see it across women in boardrooms, women in sport, women, you know, fighting for equality.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, all the time. Let's start. Let's start at the beginning because you turned pro at 14, which. Maria, can I be honest? That is so insane to me. Your 14th birthday, you were, like, turned pro. I think I watched. My 14th birthday was probably like Spice World came out, and I went to a movie theater.

[Maria Sharapova]

I know it probably sounds like I played every single week, and. But there was a limitation to how much. I think I played, like, seven tournaments in the year. But, yeah, that was, like, officially. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

How was that?

[Maria Sharapova]

Well, because you I end up playing. I don't remember that. I remember. Well, I remember the tournament. I remember in a small town in Florida and I just, my father drove me up to the tournament. He was my coach and was my coach Till I was 21 years old. And I don't remember how I did, but I do remember like, like it was official because you're like that's your first match as a professional. Yeah. You're in the big leagues.

[Katie Nolan]

I mean at the age of 14, what is it like to start on a journey like that? How much of that are you conscious of? Of like, whoa, my life's about to start happening. And how much of it is like the average 14 year old can go. I, I can relate to the fact that you maybe didn't even have that much awareness at the time of what was the scope of what was happening in your life.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah, I, Look, I, I had, you know, I was an only child. I start with that because that, that was, it was important because my father was my coach for many years and my mother had nothing to do with, with sport. And so I think she kept me, she kept me normal in a way that education was really important to her. So when I'd come from training at home, I had a very normal home. It wasn't like I was studying tapes at 13 years old or doing, you know, something out of like when I'd come on the court I'd work hard and I dedicated my time to the sport. But away from tennis I, it like I was a normal girl and I had friends and I know when you think of like a young prodigy you think it's like 24, 7 or. And I guess you're always thinking about it because it is your life and so much of everything you do revolves around tennis. But like I did boxing, you know, because I like loved it. I did gymnastics. So I did all these different activities that kept me entertained and I studied and I studied art and you know, I finished all, I finished high school online. So yeah, I did as much as I could away from the court to be somewhat normal.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. And social media at that time there

[Maria Sharapova]

wasn't much of it.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, we're the same age so I feel like 14 was when I was probably dialing up to like AOL.

[Maria Sharapova]

I was, I was dialing up at my grandparents house.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. And you're kind of like at this fascinating time of being a famous athlete as social media is kind of coming into play over the course of your career, like how did it was it A major factor for you, because I don't. At a certain age, I assume, is when they. You started being able to go on and see what everybody was saying.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

But at that point, you might have been so firmly rooted and you weren't checking for that.

[Maria Sharapova]

No. I remember when I first heard about. It was. My manager came up to me, we were having a meeting, and he said, I want to. I want to start a Facebook page for you. I was like, what?

[Katie Nolan]

A what a what?

[Maria Sharapova]

And. And he said, will you just let me, you know, will you let me start it and I'll post some, like, you know, photos from tournaments and all that. And I was like, yeah, okay, sure. And little by little, you kind. I remember just getting, like, a little more comfortable each event and, like, sharing more. Cause I also. I was so in the zone. Like, when I played, I had horse blinders on. And the definition of a fan didn't really resonate with me until I was a little bit older, probably like in my early 20s, where I understood how special a fan is. Just one, one by one, like, they'd wake up in the middle of the night. And the way that I found out was through social media. Like, I was very unaware that there are people that love what you do and that are admirers of you and that wake there on the other side of the world, and they will follow your every word, your every step, your every move. And with social media, I started recognizing it. So that was the biggest gift for me because the more that I saw that they engaged with my career, the more I wanted to give back to them and the more comfortable I became.

[Katie Nolan]

Huh. That's really fascinating. You weren't. I mean, you were so locked in.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

You weren't, like, participating in fan culture of other, did you? Were you a boy band girl?

[Maria Sharapova]

Well, at one point, I remember my. I had a really good friend. Her name was Liberty. And we exchanged CDs during one Christmas. And I gave.

[Katie Nolan]

That's what music used to be on kids. I don't know if they know.

[Maria Sharapova]

And I gave her the NSync CD. She gave me the Backstreet Boy CD. Yep.

[Katie Nolan]

I was an in sync girl. Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

I mean, I like them both.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. I mean, really, I think we all do. It's not like I was going to not let them play my birthday party.

[Maria Sharapova]

I love the Spice Girls more than any of them.

[Katie Nolan]

Same.

[Maria Sharapova]

But I loved the Spice Girls. But in that particular moment, we exchanged those two CDs.

[Katie Nolan]

That's. And that is the mark of true friendship.

[Maria Sharapova]

True friendship. As A same price? Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

What were they, like, $12.99 back then? So, speaking of friendship, I feel like, like, throughout your. Your career, there was criticism that the media seemed to have for you about friendship, about that they. That you didn't have a lot of friends amongst tennis players. Where do you stand on that narrative now, with the perspective that you have having retired, looking back at your career? Why do you think that was such a sticking point for some people? And, you know, how do you feel about it?

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah, I think it was a sticking point because I was quite honest about it. Like, my. The stadium and the arena. That was my office. Like, that anyone that was across the net was getting in a way of a trophy. And I could. I didn't have that side of me that could go and have dinner with someone that I would play a Grand Slam final with. I knew that whoever I'm competing with, I wanted to beat. And so I think that's part of the reason why that. That. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

They said that it's harder to beat your friends. Theoretically.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah. And I just. I just wouldn't play that well. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

It would, like, cross your wires a little.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah. You're like, why would I want to beat my friend?

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

We're friendly.

[Katie Nolan]

Right. And, like, I know some people are different. Other people are probably. Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

And you can do that.

[Katie Nolan]

And I know.

[Maria Sharapova]

I know many people that can do that, and they. They're able. They have that boundary. I just. I. I couldn't. It's the same, like, even with, like, doing. Going to events or having brand partnerships, like, I couldn't be in that world. I couldn't go to this event with hundreds of people, and then the next day, like, away from the courts, and then the next day go and play tournament. Like, there was. I had to cut the line at some point. Like it was. There's certainly guardrails in place.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Which is. Your job as an athlete is to protect whatever you need to be in for this mindset, to get out there and do what you do.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And what you do is play amazing tennis. For anybody who doesn't know 2004.

[Maria Sharapova]

Not anymore.

[Katie Nolan]

Well, yeah. I bet you still would be pretty good at it.

[Maria Sharapova]

You'd probably beat me

[Katie Nolan]

in 2004. This was sort of the big first arrival. Would you say the Wimbledon win over Serena Williams. Just an incredible. You were how old for this?

[Maria Sharapova]

17.

[Katie Nolan]

Unbelievable.

[Maria Sharapova]

Thank you.

[Katie Nolan]

To even fathom at 17, to be in such a huge. With so many eyeballs on you, so much attention and so much pressure. How the hell. Respectfully does a 17 year old walk into that situation and come out on top?

[Maria Sharapova]

Well, I think I was fearless. I look back to that moment and it really, it doesn't, it resonates so much now than it ever did because I, I think I have now being retired for a few years and just having a zoomed out version and seeing, you know, how when you're in something, you just, you don't really notice the details. Even like coming off of one match, you know, your coach says one thing, you're like, really? But I was in there. I didn't, you know, I didn't feel that. I didn't do that. And then you watch the tape and you're like, you know, they were right. And, and I look back at that moment and I, I didn't care where I was. I could have been on court number 18, you know, in, in Kentucky where I played one of my first junior tournaments, but I wasn't. I was on center court at Wimbledon and I was playing defending champion, a multi Grand Slam champion, Serena Williams. And it didn't phase me. And I think it's hard with today's world where there's constant opinion of how you do it, who you are, what you do. I didn't give a crap about any of that. I, I loved what I did. I love performing, I loved competing, and I love getting better. The idea that even as a young girl, like I loved every week you'd play a junior tournament every weekend, and one day you'd lose to this person, and then the next week you have to play them again. And when I'd beat them the next week, it would, it was like a huge victory. Cause I was like, I got better, I improved. And that mentality is what won me my first Grand Slam. It's what I think brought every Grand Slam is that this element of fearlessness and going against all odds and I mean, back to what the podcast is about and why I created it is like I lived the identity of being pretty tough. And like for any champion, it's impossible not to be tough. Right. In a sporting world.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. This obviously sort of kicked off a storyline people loved to follow. Which was your relationship with Serena.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

So much.

[Maria Sharapova]

Which has a great ending.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes. And a kind of like a surprise and fun ending.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah, we love a surprise.

[Katie Nolan]

It was such a fun little twist. So much has been written and, and spoken and discussed about this relationship between the two of you. How would you best describe how it started, how it evolved, and where it stands now?

[Maria Sharapova]

Well, we were the greatest of competitors. I think if you. If anyone asks, like, who is a tennis player that's the greatest competitor in. For years, I think Serena and I would be at the top of that list. And we. We didn't like to lose, whether it was against each other or anyone else, but especially against each other, because we fought for the same titles, we fought for the same Grand Slams, you know, I. At the. At the biggest stage of her career and at the biggest stage of mine, you know, I. I won that match in London, and that was a tough match to lose. Right. For her. And I think in some ways, she was like, well, I'm gonna step it up. And, boy, did she. You know, every time that we played, she was so strong and so focused and played incredible tennis, as she always does. But there was. There. You know, there was another element of performance when we played against each other. So we went from having, like, the toughest. Some of my biggest victories, some of the toughest losses, to acknowledging that, at the. At the end of the day, we have so much respect for each other. This, like, ultimate respect for a champion. Right. For carrying a lot. I mean, every tournament internationally, every single event, showing up and not just playing, doing all the things, the responsibilities that comes with being an athlete. Like, we had a lot on our backs for so many years, and I think we always respected each other. But when we hung up the racket, I think we really recognized that, like, we did this together. And so when I got a chance, when the hall of Fame asked me, you know, who. Is there someone that you would like to introduce you at the ceremony? Her name is the first name that came up. There's no one else. Now, whether she'd say yes or no, that's a whole other thing.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Did you have to, like, give yourself a pep talk to have that conversation with her, or do you not have. Is it you that makes that call?

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah, I called her.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

I mean, we were in touch. So, yeah, I sent her a note and I asked her, and we spoke for over an hour and didn't even. Didn't even touch upon the hall of Fame until the last. I was like, oh, wait, by the way.

[Katie Nolan]

By the way.

[Maria Sharapova]

The reason I called. And then, you know, you realize, I mean, we spoke about children, spoke about the way, you know, we're bringing up our girls and our cause. The way we grew up was very different. And, you know, I mean, our fathers have a very similar trajectory of doing everything, sacrificing so much for their daughters. So there's just so much common Ground and respect. And. Yeah, that moment when she came on stage, I think was a surprise for everyone. Even for my father. He didn't know.

[Katie Nolan]

No way. Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

Nobody knew. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Wait, I love that. That's amazing.

[Maria Sharapova]

Why does anyone have to know?

[Katie Nolan]

That's amazing. How do you keep a secret like that?

[Maria Sharapova]

You don't talk about it.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

That is the key.

[Katie Nolan]

That's where I keep screwing up. That's the part I keep forgetting. I'm over here just yapping all the time.

[Maria Sharapova]

That's why you have a podcast and you're good at your job.

[Katie Nolan]

I guess. I. It was such a shock that I feel like. Didn't she even forget to give you the.

[Maria Sharapova]

The trophy?

[Katie Nolan]

The trophy?

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah, she didn't want to give me

[Katie Nolan]

the trophy, but it is part of it. You do have to give it.

[Maria Sharapova]

The oohs and ahs. When she walked out, I mean, it was.

[Katie Nolan]

People were like, gasp, Something has happened.

[Maria Sharapova]

I was like, I don't want to see the stage. I want to see the crowd. There's a view, like a bird's eye view. And I was like, that is my favorite video of everyone. It's absolutely just, like, everyone turning to each other and being like, what?

[Katie Nolan]

That's amazing. And it is. It's nice to hear that, like, the evolution of the relationship is that, like, on the other side of it, you both can see with clearer eyes now how similar and how much of your life has been sort of mirrored in each other's lives and et cetera. And you guys are still friends.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

That's good.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Check, check, mark. Checking in just to make sure. Look, one of the most fascinating things about tennis to me as a. As a person who struggles the most with. It was always mental for me. Like, I played softball in high school. Please, we're not talking about me. But just so to set up this question, the struggle for me was always, like, kind of locking in. You are the literal opposite of that. Your ability to lock in and correct me if I'm wrong, your ability to lock in seems to be, like, one of your biggest strengths, is that you can sort of silence the noise and focus. And for tennis in general, I feel like that is crucial, because more than most any other sport, it's just you alone. I know there's doubles, but for the sake of it, you by yourself. It's on a stage with a ton of people around you, but everybody's quiet and looking at you, and you're facing just you and the enemy, and there's, like, no, like, teammate there's no. I know the rules for interacting with your coach have changed in recent years, but there's. But there is still barely any. And it just. I. How could you possibly mentally deal. How do you deal with that type of pressure?

[Maria Sharapova]

Well, it started in 2004, and I, I made it to the, the finals right before the final of Wimbledon. My coach came up to me because he was just noticing how many people would come in for a photo and an autograph and they wanted to talk to me. And, and I mean, it was all new for us. Like, this was an entirely new experience. And he was kind of like, within a few minutes, he's, like, sick of it. And he comes over and, you know, I have a big final ahead of me. And he's like, from now on, you put on those horse blinders and you don't see left or right. You just look straight ahead and that's it. And I felt like from that moment, I will never forget those words. Cause that's what was required to not lose sight of the goal. Like, as much as, you know, with, with more things you achieve, the more opportunities you get and the more distractions you have. And, and sometimes they're healthy distractions, and other times they're just taking you away from a bigger goal and more so than not. And, and now, I mean, look at, you know, young athletes now. So I felt like, I look back to that and I always remember it when I felt a little out of place, when I felt like my head was, you know, a little too big, when I was doing a little too much away from the courts, and, you know, I had to dial it back in and I just thought of those scores blinders. Because at the end of the day, like, nothing gave me more satisfaction than, like, getting in bed after a really long training day when you've given everything you could possibly give from your body and from your mind, and you're so exhausted, you're so depleted, but you're so proud of what you did. You gave everything you had. And that gave me more satisfaction than any photo shoot, than any appearance, than any event. And so I always thought of that. You know, I always went back to that feeling. That's what I'm most proud of.

[Katie Nolan]

Did you ever have moments? Do you have any, like, advice for anyone who, who's spiraling in, like, a negative selft talk? Because my thought is like, if that were me alone on a tennis court and one of those crept in, one of those, like, they're right about you. You don't have it, but you see, it.

[Maria Sharapova]

It always goes back to other people.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. So that's.

[Maria Sharapova]

See, the things you reference is like, they, they, she, he, you know, my parents, my. It's not about them. Yeah, it's about you.

[Katie Nolan]

Damn. You did that with ease. The way you just were. Like, it's.

[Maria Sharapova]

Well, it's.

[Katie Nolan]

That's the issue.

[Maria Sharapova]

And it's always about other people. Like, someone asked me to write down, like a message to my younger self and I said, follow your instinct. Like your instinct most of the time is correct. Don't hesitate. Just make a decision, move on with it. And if there, and if it's the wrong one, you'll figure it out. But it's your mistake, you know, it's not, not anyone else's. And you can't use that as an excuse.

[Katie Nolan]

Damn.

[Maria Sharapova]

Hmm. Damn. Did that feel a little bit like therapy? Uh huh.

[Katie Nolan]

A little bit. That really did work. Thank you very much for that.

[Maria Sharapova]

I mean, your posture really changed.

[Katie Nolan]

I feel like I've gotta get my shit together now. That was the best speech I've ever gotten. You mentioned before.

[Maria Sharapova]

Where do we go from here?

[Katie Nolan]

We'll see. I mean, nowhere to go but up. You talked before about when your dad was your coach.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

And that you had. And that when you were 21, your dad was no longer your coach. Is that a tough conversation? Was that like a. No.

[Maria Sharapova]

Oh, with my dad, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Did you have to say like, hey, dad, it's not working?

[Maria Sharapova]

No, it actually was working. I won my third Grand Slam.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

And I. And I knew, I knew that he was on this journey with me from when I was a young girl, and he was my coach for so many years, and he continued to be. But I just, I wanted to fly and I wanted to show him that I could do it on my own. And I won my third Grand Slam. And that's not usually when you fire a team that's, you know, helped you get you to, you know, the peak of your career. And that was some of the best tennis that I played. But I was ready. I was ready, you know, to make. To do it on my own. Not on my own. Like, I still, I had a phenomenal team and he very much was part of that team, but just not, not at every match and not at every tournament.

[Katie Nolan]

And he took that well.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah, he was actually quite happy. He's like, I can ski now and I can hike and. Yeah, he's on a permanent vacation.

[Katie Nolan]

He's like, I can live my life. Yeah, this is exciting.

[Maria Sharapova]

While I'm still following her life.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Yes. I mean, of course, there's no way any dad, coach, any day, even when they're not your coach anymore, they're still going to be like, you notice that thing you were doing with your goodness?

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

You know, you weren't just, just an incredible tennis player. You also managed to have. And you sort of alluded to this before, like, business interests that you participated in outside of. I remember one of the first things was that you were like an early investor in Supergoop.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

That amazing sunscreen. And it just. I keep. And then there was Sugar Pova, which was the, the candy, which I know a lot of people were like, an athlete candy.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yep.

[Katie Nolan]

And I was like, I think it makes sense because you've got.

[Maria Sharapova]

I love candy.

[Katie Nolan]

You gotta treat yourself.

[Maria Sharapova]

I still eat candy.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Athletes don't go. People, People always act so shocked when they're like, what that guy eats McDonald's after a basketball game? And you're like, yeah. They need. You still are human.

[Maria Sharapova]

You still have to find your own personal balance.

[Katie Nolan]

Exactly.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah. For me, it was sweets. I have a.

[Katie Nolan]

You still. Still got a sweet?

[Maria Sharapova]

Oh, I love sweets.

[Katie Nolan]

What's your favorite candy?

[Maria Sharapova]

I, I, I love everything.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. All of it.

[Maria Sharapova]

It's kind of.

[Katie Nolan]

You don't turn any of it down.

[Maria Sharapova]

No, it's a problem.

[Katie Nolan]

Licorice.

[Maria Sharapova]

I just had a birthday and I was like, I just, I love cake.

[Katie Nolan]

How did I not see it?

[Maria Sharapova]

I was like, I love cake.

[Katie Nolan]

Cake. What kind of cake did you have?

[Maria Sharapova]

Well, it was kind of a disaster because we, I thought I was getting carrot cake because we love this, this, this particular bakery and the cake comes and it is not a carrot cake. So they. I think I got someone else's cake.

[Katie Nolan]

What was it? So you don't even know?

[Maria Sharapova]

It was vanilla. Oh, yeah. No.

[Katie Nolan]

So a little boring, but still good.

[Maria Sharapova]

It was a, it was a great lunch and the food was great, but it was not the cake that I had asked for.

[Katie Nolan]

Vanilla with vanilla frosting or with chocolate frosting?

[Maria Sharapova]

No, it's vanilla.

[Katie Nolan]

I mean, wow.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah. It was too vanilla.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Damn. Really ruined the whole birthday, you said. That's what you just said, is that it ruined your entire.

[Maria Sharapova]

I did not say that. You did.

[Katie Nolan]

Why was it important to you to have other, I don't know, like, business ventures outside of tennis? And how did you choose which ones to take and which ones to pass on?

[Maria Sharapova]

Well, I, I recognize from an early age that as a female athlete, your time will come, and it will come much sooner than if you were Another profession. Right. If you're a business leader or an artist, you have many more years than a female athlete. Whether it is because you no longer want to do it, whether your body gives up or because you want to start a family, like, there. There is a finish line that's a lot sooner than for other women. And in my early 20s, when I started making a little more money and felt. Felt, you know, more financially comfortable where I could take chances with. With money and I could invest in things that didn't require that immediate return of investment, I started, you know, taking a few bets on, on people and companies that I was impressed with, and Supergoop was one of them.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, it feels like it was stuff that you interacted with as a consumer, which is. Is really helpful in these situations because I feel like it's something you believed in.

[Maria Sharapova]

Cause you used to. It's also somewhat of a philosophy that I followed ever since. Like, I want to be. I want to be a consumer myself, but equally I want to send it to my mom and my friends and, and I want them to give me their feedback. And most of the time I do. I mean, my last investment is in a. In a gummy supplement called Amulet, and it is lactoferrin with creatine. And I sent it to about 15, 20 of my friends. And I sent, said, here's a survey. Fill it out at the end. And I had like, incredible feedback. I was like, it's either me, but I love this product I use. I have it every day. And that's how I invested.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

Because I recognized that you can be 20 years old, 45, 50, and it works for you.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Not just business, too. You had like a, a reputation for like being like a style icon. Does that feel right to you? Does that sit well with your spirit? Ever since that little black dress, I feel like we've been talking about you as like a. I don't know about spirit.

[Maria Sharapova]

I think it was a. I mean, tennis is one of the few sports where you can. If you have a sponsor and a brand that's able, that you're able to work with and has flexibility on creating looks for you, which I did with Nike. I mean, I had to earn my. I had to earn their trust. I had to win a few things before I got a custom look. Then it turns into something like, is an extension of yourself and the look that you want to, I guess, showcase. But ultimately it wasn't about like showing something that's loud or, I don't know, it wasn't really about making noise. It was about anything that I wore was like my armor. It was like my. My uniform. And when I'm on the court. You do play better when you're wearing something that feels in which you're confident and you're comfortable. And you know that each seam is in the right place and each cutout is where it needs to be. And the material is just effortless. Right. Like it's. It's just second skin. Yeah. So that's the feeling that I like, loved. I mean, I did love putting it on the locker room. And everyone's like, great dress.

[Katie Nolan]

Wow.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And everyone said wow. Also, this was fun. In my prep for this, I realized that you.

[Maria Sharapova]

There was prep.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. What?

[Maria Sharapova]

Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

Does it not feel like.

[Maria Sharapova]

No, it's. No, no, I.

[Katie Nolan]

Am I doing a bad job? No, I want to learn from you.

[Maria Sharapova]

I want to learn like what. How you do your prep.

[Katie Nolan]

This. I was just reading random stuff, anything I could find with your name on it. And I saw that you designed at some point you were doing designs for Cole Hahn.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And that the shoe, the. I think it's a ballet flat.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

That you designed is like one of their best selling articles to like to this day.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

It. How crazy is that?

[Maria Sharapova]

Well, that came about because Cole Han was owned by Nike and I wanted to branch out. And when you're a Nike athlete, there's not a lot of other brand partnership you can have because of the. The deals that you have. They. Well, I wouldn't go there, but there's certain limitations to what you can do. And because it was a Nike owned brand, they allowed me to create this line. And this Balor ballet flat ended up being one of their best selling SKUs.

[Katie Nolan]

It's awesome.

[Maria Sharapova]

Great for revenue.

[Katie Nolan]

Gonna get one if I still can.

[Maria Sharapova]

Might be on ebay, you mentioned.

[Katie Nolan]

I'll find it. I'll track it down. That'll be.

[Maria Sharapova]

I mean, you went on a rabbit hole of prep.

[Katie Nolan]

I've got it all. I truly. If there's anything about you you forget, I have it in here.

[Maria Sharapova]

Oh, goodness.

[Katie Nolan]

I want to talk about retirement. A lot of athletes, when they retire, they. It's a common theme we hear about like filling the hole that tennis used to fill. It was so much of your life. Like we said, you, you. You've been doing it since you were young. I think four was when you picked up a tennis racket. And so to. Once you retired, does it hit you what has filled that hole now in you? Where do you find that you can put the Maria Sharapova that was molded by this sport, this competitive, this fierce, this horse blinders. Where does she show up now that you've retired from professional tennis?

[Maria Sharapova]

Well, it's hard to have horse blinders on for all of your life. Right. Because tennis was very specific and it required it because as we spoke, like, you are your own. You're this individual in this huge arena with millions of eyeballs. So. So I don't. Even though the sport was a huge part of my identity, it wasn't me. Like, the attributes of it, like, the adjectives, the. You know, the fierceness, the competitiveness. That was like when I. Funny, when I used to travel. And you filled out those forms like, you're like, welcome to Australia. Here's. You know, what's your profession? I used to always write athletes, and I felt so proud, like, writing that I am an athlete, because it's like, that's who I am. And when you retire and you have to fill out those forms, but I still do it because the identity of that. It's a mentality. It's like, of course, there was. It was. I showcased that mentality, and I had a platform to showcase in the arena, but. But it was like a spirit inside. And that doesn't go away like that, of course. And it's brought me. I know I've always had a healthy relationship with understanding that this is not your entire life. And I think that's why I was. Thank goodness that I was smart enough at a young age to recognize that you're gonna have to. You might get injured. And I did. I had, you know, several surgeries on my shoulder. I had several opportunities where I could have just said, you know what? This is the end. And it may have come sooner than I wanted to. So I was always preparing, always getting ready, always, you know, educating myself, taking internships. You know, I remember going into Adam Silver's office and shadowing him for several days, and everyone's like, what is she doing here? And at the end of the day, learning. I mean, that's the beauty of who we are. It's like trying to get better. And now, as a mother, I mean, every day, for better or worse, every day, for better or worse, I get to learn about my son, about myself, and applying. I mean, many of the lessons. The patience.

[Katie Nolan]

The patience. I hear so much.

[Maria Sharapova]

The patience, the perseverance.

[Katie Nolan]

Speaking of which, he turns for this summer. Has he picked up a. Yeah, he's

[Maria Sharapova]

not showing much interest, and that's fine. Totally.

[Katie Nolan]

He's on his own journey. No what's your approach to that? Are you gonna just sort of softly nudge towards any type of sport in particular or maybe tennis specifically? Or are you sort of letting him.

[Maria Sharapova]

I don't know if softly is a word you can associate with True. I. So I. Actually, it's something that Serena and I spoke about is like, how do you navigate raising a child in. In the world today? Yeah. Like, how much do you push versus allow them to find their right passion? And.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

It's such a strange. I don't know. I don't know what my philosophy is.

[Katie Nolan]

Do you know?

[Maria Sharapova]

I don't know.

[Katie Nolan]

I'm asking you because I. I'm fascinated by these thoughts. You have to.

[Maria Sharapova]

Well, there are a lot of opinions.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

Right. And. And we have the world wide web

[Katie Nolan]

and AI and you can read every opinion anyone's ever had on the subject.

[Maria Sharapova]

You have experts on every subject. And. But at the end of the day, I think you also have to listen to your gut. You know, like, my mom didn't have much help. She certainly didn't have resources. She had her mother to help. And. And even though that's not. I mean, we have a lot more help now, but that you still gotta go back to your instinct.

[Katie Nolan]

If you had your way, would he play tennis?

[Maria Sharapova]

I don't really have it like a certain way. I don't. You kind of have to. You recognize pretty. Or like, he's not into rackets. Or like when he sees a racket or a ball, he's not like, oh, yeah, let's go do it.

[Katie Nolan]

What's his problem?

[Maria Sharapova]

No, I.

[Katie Nolan]

Well, what's his deal? Why is he not. Doesn't he know the family business?

[Maria Sharapova]

Well, whose problem is it? Maybe it's my husband's.

[Katie Nolan]

If. What if he came to you and he's like, I want to play baseball.

[Maria Sharapova]

Are you like, well, I wouldn't know much about it, but yeah. Oh, yeah. No, I will be driving him as long as it takes.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

And I do.

[Katie Nolan]

I think the skills of being a tennis player do apply to other. It's a lot of it's mentality stuff. And they. Growing up, they told us every sport I played, every youth sport, they were like, it's 90% mental. And so 90% of baseball you could help him with because it would just be about mentality.

[Maria Sharapova]

I also think, because I was like, I just had one lane. Like, I. Only anything I did was for tennis, really. But I also like the idea that, you know, you do maybe two or three things and then you. You learn certain skill sets. And as you get older, you start to understand where those skill sets can apply. I think the way that I grew up and just leaning into one thing, I don't. I don't know if. If it's right or wrong. It was my way, but I. I don't know if that. If that's right for all kids. I'm still navigating it.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, well. And I.

[Maria Sharapova]

It's early.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. You liking it?

[Maria Sharapova]

I love it.

[Katie Nolan]

It's so rewarding, you say.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah, it's rewarding, but also it's such a reflection of the. Of the parents. Like, you. Just you and your husband are it. It's right in front of you. It's just a lot younger.

[Katie Nolan]

Is there anything from your childhood you see now through a different lens now that you're on the parent side where like. Like moments you've had with your parents where you go, like, I never even thought about this. And now that I'm the parent in this relationship, I understand them better now.

[Maria Sharapova]

Just the, like, the constant worry, like, you know, they have, like, a little cough and you're like, is this the worst thing or is it nothing? Yeah, I was like, especially the first year, you're just. It's all so new. So anything is, like, is a big deal. But, you know, and as they say, as you have more children, like, you're, you know, at the third, you're probably like, okay, none of this is really a big deal. They're so resilient. But, I don't know, you just kind of go with the flow. Yeah, but it's stressful.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes. These are all things are reasons I'm opting out.

[Maria Sharapova]

And especially if you choose as a mother to, you know, to still work or require to, like, that distance is full of guilt. I mean, being, you know, having to leave your kid at the door that is, you know, tearful and that doesn't want you to leave is hard. It's really hard.

[Katie Nolan]

How do you deal with that?

[Maria Sharapova]

I mean, I'm always someone that I don't. I don't try to shy away from moments that make you feel challenged or make you feel hurt. And may. Perhaps that's because of. Of what I did in my life is like, I lost so often. Like, I had to feel it, you know, I had to feel, you know, you lose and then you go into press conference and then, you know, handling that and, like, being a professional about it, and then, you know, walking into the hotel where everyone's, you know, kind of feeling sad, and you're like, no, no, no. You know, always having to show up for others while you're kind of hurting as well. But then, like, what do you do about it? You know? So I leave home with that guilt. But I equally know that he is so supported and is comfortable and has amazing people around him. But also I come back home feeling, like, invigorated and knowing that I work. I'm an ambitious woman and I, you know, I certainly. I don't feel bad about it, but I know that that makes me a better person, that makes me a better mother. When I commit to it, I do my work and then I come home and I'm able to be a mom.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. And you're leading. You're showing him what a strong woman can do. You're leading by example.

[Maria Sharapova]

I mean, we'll see.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, I mean, I think. I think you got it.

[Maria Sharapova]

I don't know if I can give myself that compliment.

[Katie Nolan]

I will, I will. Can I ask. This one's kind of out of left field. Pickleball. What's up with that?

[Maria Sharapova]

Not a fan?

[Katie Nolan]

No. Why not?

[Maria Sharapova]

Are you?

[Katie Nolan]

No, I.

[Maria Sharapova]

Well, I played once. I committed to this exhibition with John McEnroe.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, just, you know, pick up game. Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah. Well, it was on tv and we decided to do this exhibition and it was when it was all the rage, like the beginning of the rage. And I gave it a shot. And I don't. It's just. I'd rather play something that I know better.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, that's logical. That actually makes sense.

[Maria Sharapova]

I also think it's like, disaster for injuries.

[Katie Nolan]

Is it?

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Because I always thought people were saying, oh, I love it because my parents can play it together. And it's like a low impact.

[Maria Sharapova]

But maybe you think it's low impact, but then you get really competitive and then you make a move that is. That your body is like, what. What are you doing? You're not. You're not meant to be doing this. And you end up. Yeah. Hurting yourself and then you can't do anything. So I choose. Yeah, I. It's kind of. I feel like since retiring, like, anything you do workout wise, like, if you go to a class, have you noticed where you don't really warm up? Huh? Nobody warms up.

[Katie Nolan]

What's up with that?

[Maria Sharapova]

I don't know.

[Katie Nolan]

We've been warming up for centuries. You got to warm up. I mean.

[Maria Sharapova]

I mean, you do prep warm up.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. You've got to do the.

[Maria Sharapova]

You just go from like 0 to 100. I mean, think of like hot yoga or a hit class or A cycling class. You arrive within three minutes, your heartbeat is, I don't know, like, 150s. That. That's unfamiliar territory to me.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. All right, pickleball, we're done with you.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah. No, no, more.

[Katie Nolan]

To each their own. If other people like it, their paddle

[Maria Sharapova]

is the thing now. Sorry.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, is that. It really is.

[Maria Sharapova]

Padel paddle.

[Katie Nolan]

Is that based off of something they say?

[Maria Sharapova]

It's like an intellectual version. I. I don't know.

[Katie Nolan]

Come on. They do.

[Maria Sharapova]

That's the rumor.

[Katie Nolan]

Padel.

[Maria Sharapova]

I cannot confirm or deny it.

[Katie Nolan]

Just. What hurt pickleball for me was that it. It got into one of those. Like, everybody was talking about it all the time being. You know what I mean?

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Sort of like.

[Maria Sharapova]

Well, everyone was buying up teams.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes. There was, like, this big. And then there was a lot of, like, investment in the series.

[Maria Sharapova]

A lot of investment.

[Katie Nolan]

It was just like.

[Maria Sharapova]

And there still is. Yeah, there's still some of it I bristled with. I don't think it's a. It's not interesting on tv. Tv. It's hard to follow.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

Which is always a big metric. Speaking of tv. Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

Do you watch a lot of tennis now?

[Maria Sharapova]

I do. Like, I do for the majors.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And. And what's that experience?

[Maria Sharapova]

I love it.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

You're still watching.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah. I still. I. I mean, I love following. I. I love having no responsibility, but just being a fan of something that I know so well and, like, following through the. This, like, momentum changes, and when everyone's, like, drinking their beer, I'm like, this is a big point. I, like, hit them in the chest. But it's fun. I mean, it's so. It's so much fun. I, like. I went to Wimbledon and for. As a spectator and sat in a royal box, which is where everyone is, you know, beautifully dressed and just. Just drinking Pimm's and eating strawberries and cream, and I was like, much better

[Katie Nolan]

experience than being down there, huh? I'm like, I've.

[Maria Sharapova]

What have I been missing?

[Katie Nolan]

Like, what in the French Riviera is this? I feel like I'm on vacation or.

[Maria Sharapova]

You know when you're sitting in a suite at the US Open and everyone's just jumping and clapping and, you know, spilling beers all over the place, and you're like, this is so much fun.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. And so none of it. You don't. It doesn't stress you out. You don't go, like. Like, oh, I can't watch that. I miss it too much. You still just the.

[Maria Sharapova]

No, I. From the day I Said, I said, I'm done. Is. I've had a very familiar distance, comfortable distance.

[Katie Nolan]

It feels so healthy.

[Maria Sharapova]

If you feel like you had a very healthy, healthy relationship, I feel really good about it.

[Katie Nolan]

It's really beautiful.

[Maria Sharapova]

If there's one thing I can brag

[Katie Nolan]

about, it's that, what about you? But you don't want to be. You don't want to work in tennis. You don't want to do commentating.

[Maria Sharapova]

You wouldn't want to do the time. And I, I don't. I, I've always. I think I've chosen, like, my words wisely in the past. I'm not someone that just talks.

[Katie Nolan]

You're in the podcast space now, so.

[Maria Sharapova]

Well, I know. That's what Chelsea Handler told me.

[Katie Nolan]

She's like, you're gonna say something and then you're gonna go, that's not what I meant. No, I'm talking too much.

[Maria Sharapova]

That's okay. I mean, I, that's the beauty of it. That's the fun of it. But, like, when you're, you know, you asked me about commentating, it's like, like, I mean, you're on air for several hours just talking tennis. I've. Yeah, I'm not sure. I, I, I'm not sure if I'd be good at that. I don't know. Maybe Never say never. You'd be very good at it. Be fun to try.

[Katie Nolan]

I personally think you'd be very good at it.

[Maria Sharapova]

Let's do it together.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay. Yeah, I can. I don't. I'm so tennis dumb. I've. I've made this interview without you noticing just how dumb I am about tennis. I came to tennis late. I find it thrilling. I also have to keep reminding myself how it's scored. It's really, it doesn't.

[Maria Sharapova]

The whole juice and it's very confused,

[Katie Nolan]

but it's, But I, but it's gorgeous.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah. And the guys, are they gorgeous, too?

[Katie Nolan]

I mean, they. Sometimes, but let's not give. They've got enough going for them. They don't need to hear that from me. I actually can't believe I got this far without asking you about the grunting. Do you feel like that was. People made such a big deal about it all the time. It felt like the headline that they led with.

[Maria Sharapova]

I assume we've covered a lot of headlines.

[Katie Nolan]

I know, but that just, is that just, like, naturally, if you tried to stop, it would feel like you're still holding yourself back.

[Maria Sharapova]

I'd still grunt if I play now.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah. There just wouldn't be as much power behind the ball, but the grunt would be just as loud.

[Katie Nolan]

How does your body feel now that you're retired? Does it do the parts that hurt and were bothering you?

[Maria Sharapova]

My shoulders still hurt. Still not the same, but it's fine.

[Katie Nolan]

But it's fine.

[Maria Sharapova]

I don't have to serve.

[Katie Nolan]

Was it kind to you? Was it like, thank you for stopping?

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Was there a little bit where it was like, oh, I can actually just recover from. I didn't.

[Maria Sharapova]

Well, I didn't know. Like, I had. I was like, on a total fitness kick right out. Cuz we went into Covid and I was so.

[Katie Nolan]

That's right. Hold on. You announced that you were retiring, like a couple of 20. 20.

[Maria Sharapova]

A couple weeks before lockdown. And I was so, like, aware of. Wait, I've just been working out for. For the entirety of my career. Like, workout was my job. How do I go from that to sitting on the sofa all day long? My husband doesn't allow me to say couch. He says sofa.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, why is that?

[Maria Sharapova]

Because he's English and they don't say couch. I think they do, but it doesn't sound as good.

[Katie Nolan]

He's also your fiance. Okay. If you can't say couch, he can't say husband.

[Maria Sharapova]

Anyway.

[Katie Nolan]

All right, we had a little bit to wrap this up. Something silly and stupid and fun.

[Maria Sharapova]

Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay. We were inspired by Sugar pova.

[Maria Sharapova]

Sure.

[Katie Nolan]

Being a great pun. So we. The name of this game is Maria Shara Blank. If you had to pick one person or a group of people, living or dead, with whom would you most want to share the following things? Okay, does this make sense? Who would Maria share a tennis court with? Of anybody in the world, alive or dead?

[Maria Sharapova]

Madonna.

[Katie Nolan]

Just so you could smoke her? Just so you could absolutely just destroy her?

[Maria Sharapova]

It's just the first person that came to mind. There is no rhyme or reason for my answer. Okay, perfect.

[Katie Nolan]

Let's continue then. Under that guise, who would Marie share a basketball court with? You're tall, so that to us means you probably can ball.

[Maria Sharapova]

Oh, Luca Doncic. I'm so invested in the Laker season right now.

[Katie Nolan]

You are?

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Big basketball fan.

[Maria Sharapova]

I mean. Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Yeah. Didn't Luke.

[Maria Sharapova]

Since the trade, I've been.

[Katie Nolan]

Didn't he buy a house?

[Maria Sharapova]

I don't know.

[Katie Nolan]

From you?

[Maria Sharapova]

I don't know.

[Katie Nolan]

What do you mean you don't know? You know he bought a house from you.

[Maria Sharapova]

Did he?

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. I thought. What?

[Maria Sharapova]

I don't know. Check your prep. Okay, shoot.

[Katie Nolan]

Who would Maria share a boxing ring with?

[Maria Sharapova]

Oh, against each other.

[Katie Nolan]

Who Would you fight in a boxing ring?

[Maria Sharapova]

Oh, that is perhaps a journalist. I don't know.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay. And we'll just say just any of them, right?

[Maria Sharapova]

Oh, yeah. I don't. Not one comes to mind.

[Katie Nolan]

No. That's the most insulting thing you can say. Like, I can't think of their name. I just. Who would Maria share a karaoke mic with? Who would you sing a karaoke song with? There's your Madonna answer. We blew it too early. So you can't say it again.

[Maria Sharapova]

I can't say it. Wow. I. Katy Perry.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Maria Sharapova]

She's a lot of fun.

[Katie Nolan]

What would you sing?

[Maria Sharapova]

Oh, well, I love. I. I love. It's been a while since I've done karaoke, but Cher is. Do you believe in love? Is my go to.

[Katie Nolan]

That's a really good one.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

That's a tough getting up there.

[Maria Sharapova]

I can do it.

[Katie Nolan]

Notes. Okay, I believe you. Who would Maria share a 10 hour flight with sitting next to them? 10 hours in the air? No. Wi fi.

[Maria Sharapova]

Chelsea Handler.

[Katie Nolan]

That's a good one.

[Maria Sharapova]

I don't have to speak.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, she'll feel it.

[Maria Sharapova]

She'll feel.

[Katie Nolan]

And you'll laugh the whole.

[Maria Sharapova]

And also like. Like she will read a book within an hour and, like, give you all of the Cliff Notes.

[Katie Nolan]

Really?

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah. She's like a speed reader and, like, so intellectually bright that she will, like. She'll give you complicated words and divide them and just let you know what they mean and you just feel so much smarter.

[Katie Nolan]

That's amazing. A perfect use of a ten hour flight.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Who would Maria share a milkshake with? Two straws. You get your own straw. But who. Who are you sipping a milkshake with?

[Maria Sharapova]

Oh, my goodness. Oh, goodness. Can I say my son?

[Katie Nolan]

Yes.

[Maria Sharapova]

Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

Of course.

[Maria Sharapova]

Because that's like his favorite thing.

[Katie Nolan]

A milkshake.

[Maria Sharapova]

Yeah. He loves strawberry. Just like his mom.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Strawberries, strawberry milkshakes. Underrated.

[Maria Sharapova]

That's the first thing that came to mind.

[Katie Nolan]

You ever had a strawberry milkshake with Oreos in it?

[Aviv]

It.

[Maria Sharapova]

I used to. I used to go to this ice cream creamery called Cold Stone. Does that still.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, I thought you were going to say some little mom and pop. Little place called Cold Stone where you could order like it, love it, got to have.

[Maria Sharapova]

I don't. I don't. God.

[Katie Nolan]

Creamery.

[Maria Sharapova]

I didn't say local creamery.

[Katie Nolan]

You did.

[Maria Sharapova]

No, but I used to get strawberry with Snickers in it and everyone would mock me for that combo. But I loved how cold the Snickers got. And then Snickers created an ice cream

[Katie Nolan]

and then you didn't have. You could cut out the middle and

[Maria Sharapova]

then I. I should have gotten royalty for that.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, you should have. It was your idea. She had it first. All right, last one. Who would Maria share an episode of Pretty Tough with? Who is your dream guest?

[Maria Sharapova]

Marina Abramovich.

[Katie Nolan]

Beautiful.

[Maria Sharapova]

Do you know who she is?

[Katie Nolan]

Yes.

[Maria Sharapova]

She's an incredible artist. She's. She's from Serbia, an immigrant. Her art wasn't accepted for many. Oh, kind of. I mean, she's a risky artist, right? She's a performance experience artist. I love her mind. She is one of the toughest ladies in the art space. So, yeah, her.

[Katie Nolan]

What a good answer. And that's a really good plug for Pretty Tough Maria's new podcast, which is out now. First episode, Zoe Saldana. Available on all major podcast platforms and on YouTube. Welcome to the Mud Kid. You're out here in YouTube. I'm here at Maria Sharapova. You guys can find that weekly. Maria, thank you so much for being here.

[Maria Sharapova]

Thank you for having me.

[Katie Nolan]

It's so cool to have met you and to have this conversation. You are incredible and it's very cool.

[Maria Sharapova]

Thank you for supporting us.

[Katie Nolan]

This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. If you've been feeling overwhelmed, stuck, anxious, or unsure, it's okay. Those feelings are more common than we think. May is mental health awareness month. A good reminder that you don't have to go through those feelings alone. Having someone with you to listen, to, understand, to support you, can make all the difference. Whatever it is that's keeping you up at night, Therapy with Better Help can help you check in with yourself and gain support from experienced professionals. Better Help is the world's largest online therapy platform. Just take a short questionnaire to identify your needs and preferences and Better Help will handle the initial therapist matching. Work work for you. Feel confident knowing Better Help? Therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the US it is a resource that's available to you. You don't have to be on this journey alone. Find support and have someone with you in therapy. Sign up and get 10 [e-mail] Katie Nolan that's betterhelp.com Katie Nolan it only

[Brady]

happens every four years and this time it's here. The biggest tournament in the world. Stadiums shaking, flags waving. This is history and you want to be there. But real life can make it tough work, busy schedules and the price. That's where Priceline comes in. Priceline has millions of deals on flights hotels and rental cars so you can go see it live. So find a great deal and make the trip happen. Rally the crew. Go see the game live. Turn your dream trip into reality. Book now with Priceline we all belong outside.

[Maria Sharapova]

We're drawn to nature. Whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze off to or the the succulents that adorn our homes, Nature makes all of our lives, well, better. Despite all this, we often go about our busy lives removed from it, but the outdoors is closer than we realize. With Alltrails. You can discover trails nearby and explore confidently with offline maps and on trail navigation. Download the free app today and make the most of your summer with Alltrails.

[Aviv]

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[Katie Nolan]

Wow. Wow. Feeling good. Feeling great. What a lovely. She's just great. She's so. She's awesome. Talented and pretty and tall and doesn't seem wise things to say yes about gross. And the thing about how often she's lost and how she has to face every lot. She's like, I lose all the time in front of people and have to answer for it. It's just like, yeah, that's again, as we were talking about before, not really something we're doing anymore in broader society. So to hear the effect that had on her. Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating. And we're so grateful for her for being here and hope that her podcast is a smash hit. It was just great. Let's get into some of these. As always, this podcast is too long again, I don't know what to do. It gives me a headache every time. But I don't want to skip any of this. So we got a a voicemail from Maria. We're gonna answer some fan mail now. Let's start with this voicemail from Maria. Chris, can you play this for me?

[Aviv]

Hi Katie and the Casuals. My name is Maria from Portland, Oregon. Longtime listener, first time caller and I wanted to call to ask to help get some national attention because I think shame might be the only way this situation gets fixed in any capacity. I'm a big Portland Trailblazers fan and our team was recently sold previously owned by Paul Allen, he died. It had to be sold on a certain timeline and it's now been purchased by an ownership group led by Tom Dundish who is apparently like a subprime mortgage guy. Okay, not great up top. He also owns the Carolina Hurricanes and I am not. I'm a total casual for the NHL. So when this all went down no one really knew what to make of it. Mostly we were just concerned about a new owner potentially moving the team so no one could really wrap their heads around what was going on. So now he officially owns the Blazers and things are immediately getting dicey. We are currently in San Antonio for our first round playoff series. We were not projected to make it past like 9 or 10 so I'm taking it as a huge win. However, his cost saving cheap skate techniques are already being so completely egregious. We are the only team in the NBA that is not sending their two way players to attend their playoffs here. Caleb Love was a two way player for us and we are not in the position we are in without Caleb Love being so clutch for us in the middle of the season when we had so many injuries and instead of him getting to celebrate with the team that he is a member of and he helped us get to the playoffs, he is sitting in Portland and watching it. Additionally, he did not send our reporter our photographer. There's reports of horsting staff and hotels to have early checkout. There's just all of these weird stories coming out and he apparently is notoriously a massive cheapskate. And here's the thing, he owns our team now. We as Portland Trailblazers fans have no level of recourse or anywhere to go with this. So I feel like the only thing that we can do is just ask national media to highlight what an absolute cheapskate he is. You can spend billions of dollars to buy an NBA franchise, but then you can't spend a couple thousand dollars to make sure that the people that are members of your team, whether they are players or like the beloved media that follows the team and gives us the fan experience of being there even if we're not, he can't shell out for them to be part of this process. And it's also he can set save a little bit of money. So anyway, we have no recourse except shame. So I'm just hoping that we can all just a little bit together. Love you Mean it.

[Katie Nolan]

What I mean, first call. Nailed it. That's.

[Chris]

Yeah. That's the longest voicemail we've ever played and I didn't want to cut a single second of it because it was so good.

[Katie Nolan]

You can't early check out from that. You've got to stay for the entire thing. I mean that this story is absurd and I do not like the way that it feels. Just as somebody who recently reminded herself what happened really with the, the, with the Sonics when they moved them out of Seattle and all the runaround of the like, no, we're not going to go anywhere. And then like the, the things you watched happen and the way you were like, oh, it looks like they're setting up to take this team away. I'm. I'm just. I, it's nothing new, but I am, I'm really at critical mass with billionaires. I'm done. I, I. You've got the money to buy these things and then you get the, the everybody else, the taxpayers to pay for all your expenses and then you cut costs costs and then you. This sucks. Does anyone have any private equity?

[Isabella]

Ruining Panera is one thing. Don't ruin sports teams, dude.

[Katie Nolan]

I almost don't even want to say because I don't want to admit how much I've, I, how recently I've eaten Panera. But I ate Dan and I got a Panera. It's like a, it's almost like nostalgic because we, it was one of the places that was like open and would deliver food for the pandemic. I feel like we would eat. We ate. We went back into Panera pretty heavy during the, the demi and so Dan and I got it like flashback throwback. Let's get a Panera. It was horrendous. Like, the bread was like, tasted and I was like, this tastes like it was frozen and then microwaved. And the. It was. I was like, this is.

[Isabella]

They don't bake it in the.

[Katie Nolan]

I know. And then I came across a story that was like, yeah, they got bought out or whatever and now it's all different. And I was like, this is awful. At what point are they gonna go like, oh, oops. You can't just, just always cut costs. You also have to provide something in exchange. You have to give people something you can't just take, take, take, take, take.

[Isabella]

I mean if you can do 60% of the business at 50% of the cost, I don't know, does that matter?

[Katie Nolan]

But you can't. We can't keep letting them. No playoff T shirts for fans. They're looking for to bring in a coach for a million dollars, which maybe a million and a half, maybe they'll really splurge. But that is about a quarter of the going rate for a coach. Isabella knows that that's what she's asking for. You couldn't even get Isabella for a million and a half. You know, 54 year old Texas billionaire who thrived in the auto loan business has collected pickleball assets. It just means that when everybody's money was getting invested into pickleball, he was like, oh cool, I'll do it too.

[Isabella]

When everybody blows their Achilles and they don't play anymore, he's like, I'll take your paddle.

[Katie Nolan]

That's Padel, actually. When asked at his introduction introductory news conference if he cared if he was liked. What is it? Tom Dundon. Is that his first name? Dundun. Law and Order said, exactly. This guy in the list of things I care about. It's lower.

[Maria Sharapova]

Great.

[Katie Nolan]

Sounds like a real winner. So sorry to Maria and and blazers fan. We'll keep our eyes on this story and, and we'll cover it as best we can because that really stinks and sucks. We got an email, Chris, from. Is it Teppe?

[Chris]

I think Teppe, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, Tappy, what do we got?

[Chris]

Tepe said, did you hear, did you see Emma Hayes wearing a hello Kitty hat during the game the other week? This was during the USA Japan friendly that they had. What was that a week and a half ago?

[Katie Nolan]

Something like that.

[Chris]

Turns out it's a new line of US soccer merch. My first thought was letting Isabella know since she missed out on the Dodger giveaway. I think maybe the hello Kitty of it all was swaying Isabella to being a Dodgers fan. I think if maybe she could scratch that itch with another team, she could forget about the Dodgers altogether. Which I think we've clearly established that Isabella has.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes.

[Chris]

Which might be better for everyone because frankly, the US Women's national team is a way better team to support than the Dodgers. Sorry. Actual Dodgers fans. And I think with the World cup coming up next year. Thanks for reminding Johnny Infantino about that. We need to start getting Isabella familiar with the team and all the kickass women on it.

[Katie Nolan]

All right, I'll take a look at that.

[Maria Sharapova]

Line.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, there's no chance she's going to say no. The problem is this, whenever I see hello Kitty plus Sports or anything that reminds me of Isabella plus Sports, I just buy it for her. I'm really spoiling this girl. Yeah, like, look what she got. That is crazy. I was shopping a Betsy Johnson sale and. And Betsy Johnson has a sports line. I didn't know about this, but I actually found out about it cuz Lisa Trager sent me a message on Instagram and she was like, if anybody likes Betsy Johnson, she's selling her sports stuff. So I bumped into this tennis wallet that I thought I was like, oh, Isabella likes tennis. This is so cute. And I got myself the baseball one and I got Isabella the. But I'm like. I'm like, I hope I'm not making a weird relationship where I just buy you stuff all the time. I'm just trying to feed your. No, I know what I'm saying. Okay, cool. But just like, also at the same time, don't get used to it. You know what I mean? At some point this money's gonna run out, so then you can buy it for me. Can we fit one more in or do we have to go? Can we do one more voicemail? Tightly, please, dad. Okay, play that. Play, play. Aviv's voicemail, please.

[Aviv]

Hi, Katie and the casualties. So, my name's Aviv and I'm calling from Pennsylvania and I'm a teacher and I was thinking about. About becoming an official for the softball team. And I thought, well, if I have a question about softball, the first person I want to call is Katie Nolan. Famously so when I was looking at the manual for officials, in the foreword, it says, unless one is willing to devote a large amount of time, energy and personal effort, it is best to find some other vocation and leave sports officiating to those whose dedication is total. So my question is, should I go for it or should I leave officiating to those whose dedication is total? Let me know. Love you. I mean it.

[Katie Nolan]

And now this is to be a high school. An ump for high school softball.

[Isabella]

I was pretty sure it was a Scientology handbook.

[Katie Nolan]

I mean, what in the going clear is this? I have to devote my life to be in a high school softball ump or else it's not the gig for me. Is it even a paying gig?

[Chris]

Good question.

[Katie Nolan]

That is not sure. Look, Aviv, I. I hate to say it, but.

[Chris]

Fascinating.

[Katie Nolan]

Feels like you got no other option but to devote your life to balls and strikes. This is the who's more dedicated than You. That's crazy. I have. And also my experience with high school girls softball. Un. They were not that into it. It was not. They didn't live.

[Chris]

They didn't read the. The handbook.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, I think they must have skipped that page because there were a couple times that strike zone got real tiny. I was getting squeezed when that ump was clearly trying to wrap things up so he could get home in time to watch Must See tv, which used to be a thing. Kids, you'll just have to believe me. You could only watch TV when it aired, so if you wanted to see it, you had to get home in time. There was. Or record it on a.

[Aviv]

A.

[Katie Nolan]

On a tape. On a VHS tape, maybe.

[Isabella]

Unk.

[Katie Nolan]

These kids don't understand. I'm washed. That feels like a podcast. What is this, six hours? I. What do you want me to do, guys? What do you want me to do? We had Maria Sharapova. You want me to not ask her as many questions as humanly possible? Do you want me to not cover all the things we talked about? It's Casuals. We thank you for listening. We love you. We mean it. Send us emails. Casuals with kaden Gmail.com. here she goes again. She's going to say the phone number for our voicemail. It's 647-680-0043. You can leave a voicemail and if it's as passionate and well informed as let's say, Maria's was, we'll play the whole thing. We're here to help you get your. Whatever you got to get off your chest. On IG and Tik Tok, we are at Casual is the podcast. I said we love you and we mean it. But I'm going to say it again, and we will see you back here next week. Right. Bye. Bye.

[Brady]

It only happens every four years, and this time it's here. The biggest tournament in the world.

[Aviv]

World.

[Brady]

Stadiums shaking, flags waving. This is history and you want to be there. But real life can make it tough. Work busy schedules and the price. That's where Priceline comes in. Priceline has millions of deals on flights, hotels, and rental cars, so you can go see it live. So find a great deal and make the trip happen. Rally the crew. Go see the game live. Turn your dream trip into reality book. Now with Priceline, real talent is defined by what people can do, not where they learn to do it. So by stopping at the education section of a resume, that you might throw away the perfect hire skills. First, hiring helps you see talent. Others miss. Like more than 70 million stars skilled through alternative routes, let their story unfold and gain a competitive advantage because hiring managers who start with skills are 60% more likely to find a successful hire. Hire skills first. Learn why at tear the paperceiling.org brought to you by opportunityatwork and the Ad Council.