Casuals with Katie Nolan – Episode Summary
Episode: The World Series, the NWSL Playoffs, and a Legal Quantity of Pelvic Thrusts
Air Date: November 4, 2025
Host: Katie Nolan
Guests/Regulars: Isabella ("the sports newbie"), Brady ("the Australian, not woman"), Chris
Podcast Theme: Making sports accessible, playful, and fun for all fans
Overview
This episode centers on the thrilling conclusion of the 2025 World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers, with an in-depth, play-by-play recap of Games 6 and 7. The crew also covers NFL news (with a special on unusual touchdown celebrations and Cardi B at the game), NWSL playoffs, quirky sports and celebrity culture moments, and ends with a guide to the week’s must-watch sports events. The tone is irreverent, welcoming, and filled with humorous asides.
Main Topics & Highlights
1. World Series 2025: Dodgers vs. Blue Jays
Main Theme:
A whirlwind series, culminating in an all-time Game 7. The Dodgers take the title, but not before an avalanche of drama, controversy, and stand-out performances.
Key Moments
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Game 6 Controversy:
- The Lodged Ball Incident [06:22]
- Barger’s ball wedged under Rogers Centre’s outfield wall padding.
- Blue Jays fans furious; correct ground-rule double call but felt like a “tattle” moment.
- Katie: “The presence of mind of an athlete to be aware of the rule book—Kiké Hernández deserves a lot of credit here... but it just does not sit right with me in a moment like that.” [07:29]
- The Lodged Ball Incident [06:22]
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Game 7 Heartbreak & Heroics:
- Bichette’s 3-run HR; Dodgers Persist [10:50]
- Early Blue Jays lead after Bichette’s homer off Shohei Ohtani.
- Dodgers chip away at deficit.
- The Almost-Brawl: [12:19]
- Benches clear after altercation over hit-by-pitch, but “nobody touched, nobody tossed.”
- Katie: “They had a big meeting on the mound—a summit was called, everybody came out, roll call, and then everybody left. It was silly and foolish.”
- Miguel Rojas’ Game-tying HR [15:49]
- Dodgers down one, Rojas (unlikely hero) ties the game in the ninth.
- Isabella: “I actually watched that…. I was rooting for the Blue Jays… so I was like, what the [bleep]?”
- Jays Can’t Close It Out; Extra Innings [20:04]
- Blue Jays strand bases loaded in the ninth.
- Defensive heroics: Andy Pages’ outfield catch, colliding with Kiké Hernández.
- Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto comes in on zero days’ rest, closes the game in 11th, wins World Series MVP.
- Brady: “Yamamoto…already pitched two complete games in this postseason… came in and gets the win. An unreal performance.” [24:06]
- Final out: Mookie Betts turns double play at shortstop, ending a wild series.
- Bichette’s 3-run HR; Dodgers Persist [10:50]
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Emotional Fallout & Player Quotes
- Billie Jean King: “The best baseball game I have ever seen.” [28:47]
- Pat McAfee: “Baseball’s super exhilarating right now. Crazy to type, crazy to feel.” [28:47]
- Blue Jays broadcaster Caleb Joseph: “It’s going to sound like sour grapes and I don’t really give a shit, but I think the better team did not win this series.” [31:49]
- Katie: “If this is one of your first Game 7s, I hope you appreciate how…it’s truly all hands on deck…all the people that we saw in this game, all the pitchers—it was just all hands on deck.” [34:00]
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The Postseason in Retrospect
- Celebrated the drama of extra inning Game 3 (18 innings!) [42:59]
- Individual stories:
- Dodgers wearing #51 for Alex Vesia, who left the team for a personal family matter [40:06]
- Will Klein, last man in bullpen, heroically closes game.
- Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw & Blue Jays’ Max Scherzer, possible last rides.
- Toronto’s Ernie Clement sets postseason hit record.
- Katie: “One of the best things in sports is a Game 7…Game 7, World Series, extra innings—you can’t top that.” [35:47]
Notable Quotes
- Katie (on baseball’s unpredictability):
“You can watch baseball your whole life and you still go like ‘I’ve never seen that.’” [45:25] - Listener voicemail:
“In just the last few weeks I’ve gone from not caring about baseball at all to just really loving these boys.” [48:25]
2. NFL & Touchdown Celebrations: How Many Pelvic Thrusts is Legal?
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Rico Dowdle’s celebration homage: [62:10]
- Panthers RB does two Key & Peele-inspired pelvic thrusts after TD, flagged for excessive celebration despite staying within the “two thrust” memo.
- Katie: “You can pull it in twice maybe, but you can’t throw it back. Kids are watching.”
- Brady: “We need uniformity of how many thrusts are allowed.”
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Cardi B Sits with Bob Kraft! [55:06]
- Cardi B in the VIP box with New England Patriots owner at a game, sparking wild speculation on their conversation.
- Katie: “I’d be willing to give [Cardi B] some power over my football team.”
3. NWSL Playoffs Primer
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Playoffs Explanation & Teams [70:26]
- Single elimination, 8 teams, three rounds.
- Notable teams and stars: Kansas City Current (record-setting season), Gotham FC (home of Midge Purce and Rose Lavelle), Racing Louisville (first ever playoff run), Portland Thorns, Orlando Pride, Seattle Reign (whose coach, Laura Harvey, admits to using ChatGPT for tactical decisions [76:08]).
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Format Details & Viewing:
- November 22nd – NWSL Championship 8pm ET.
- “…these are all memorable names. I like them all.” —Isabella
4. Around the Sports World: News, Oddities & Culture
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Sydney Sweeney at the World Series [66:50, 69:00]
- Discussion about her public persona vs. her role playing Christy Martin in the new film “Ponytail”.
- Katie finds it amusing that movie promotion ignores the “boxer as bombshell” contradiction.
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Celebrity, Athlete & Influencer Relationship News [87:13]
- Jalen Green tattoos 40-year-old girlfriend Draya Michele’s face on his back.
- Katie: “When you’re immortalizing some face on skin, usually…that person died…”
- Shaun White & Nina Dobrev break up; Shaun dates TikToker Eli Withrow.
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Political Crossover & Sports [97:05]
- New York Gov. Kathy Hochul claims protestors chanting “tax the rich” were saying “let’s go Bills.”
5. What to Watch: Upcoming Sports Schedule [104:08]
- Women’s College Basketball: #8 Tennessee vs. #9 NC State, Tuesday 4pm ET on ESPN.
- Men’s College Basketball: #19 Kansas vs. #25 UNC, Friday 7pm ET on ESPN.
- Formula 1: Brazilian Grand Prix, Sunday Nov. 9, 12pm ET.
Notable Quotes & Moments
- “I think the Blue Jays are the better team. And while I get what you’re saying…I saw somebody reply: ‘You know what we should do? We should take the two teams that we think are the best and have them play, I don’t know, seven games. And whichever one manages to win more gets to say they’re the best.’ Which is, you know, what we did.” – Katie, on postgame excuses [32:24]
- “It gave us the controversy that this World Series needed, I think, in order to be…a historic World Series.” – Katie (on the ball lodging play) [07:29]
- “Baseball’s weird like that. That’s advanced baseball.” – Katie, on adopting postseason teams as your own [49:41]
- “If I could flag here… that they go over stuff like this every week in the meeting room. What do you mean? Every single week they’re going ‘and don’t forget…we’re not throwing it back’ and if we have to thrust, we are limited to two… That’s crazy.” [64:35]
Timestamps for Key Segments
- 06:22 – Lodged ball controversy, World Series Game 6
- 10:50 – Blue Jays take early lead in Game 7
- 12:19 – Benches clear after hit-by-pitch; no fight
- 15:49 – Miguel Rojas hits game-tying home run, Game 7
- 20:04 – Blue Jays strand bases loaded, dramatic defense sends to extras
- 24:06 – Dodgers' pitcher Yamamoto wins World Series MVP
- 31:49 – Blue Jays’ broadcaster: “I think the better team did not win”
- 42:59 – Game 3, the 18-inning marathon
- 55:06 – Discussion: Cardi B and Bob Kraft, NFL relationships
- 62:10 – Panthers’ Rico Dowdle penalized for two-pump celebration
- 70:26 – NWSL Playoffs primer, matchups, and ChatGPT coaching confession [76:08]
- 87:13 – Athlete/celebrity relationship roundup
- 97:05 – Governor Hochul claims “tax the rich” chant was “let’s go Bills”
- 104:08 – What to watch this week: Women’s CBB, Men’s CBB, F1
Tone & Takeaways
- The show is fun, welcoming, and tangential—perfect for sports newcomers or serious fans alike.
- The World Series recap is thorough, emotional, and includes both technical analysis and pure sports joy/pain.
- Crew celebrates the wonder and chaos of sports—on-field and off-field alike.
For the Truly Casual Fan
If you didn’t catch the postseason, this is a stellar episode to get all the drama, human stories, and absurdities—not just in baseball, but across American sports this week. Highlights include the controversy-filled World Series finale, goofy NFL celebration rules, and a pragmatic primer for the upcoming NWSL playoffs.
Closing note: Even Isabella, the “casual” sports fan, is won over by baseball’s drama—proof the show’s mission is working!
For direct questions, show feedback, or to share your favorite postseason moment, call the show at 646-810-0043 or email casuals@katy nallmail.com
