B (10:39)

what

A (10:39)

she has been through in these nine months. An incredibly scary scene when she collapsed during a game. It was May 9, it was Mother's Day 2025, a home game against Utah and she collapsed on the field. And they found out it was due to a rare undiagnosed heart condition. She underwent heart surgery days later and incredibly, just now, nine months later, she's back. She's off the season ending injury list. And Savvy King, as she says, Savvy 2.0 is back, baby. Yes. So excited for you Savs. So are these two. They tell you the same. Okay, party people. Abby joins us after our party starter. So let's get this party started with the highlights and headlines here you'll want to celebrate this week in women's sports. It's our special Olympic games party starter with our special guest, Marissa Tanden. Marissa, I have to check in first to see because I was so excited when Alana Myers Taylor, who we had on the pod, of course, and is a friend of the pod. When she won gold, we were actually recording on Tuesday. Were you watching all of that?

C (11:54)

I was, of course watching, but absolutely incredible. I. I'm jealous that you have, like, your reaction to that live recorded, because

A (12:01)

everyone was like that. Huh?

B (12:03)

Ye. And it was such a.

C (12:04)

It was such a nail biter, too, for her to be able to take that gold.

B (12:06)

It was.

C (12:08)

I'm going to be laughing this entire recording,

B (12:14)

but.

C (12:14)

But, yeah, no, it was literally, I was so impressed. For anyone who doesn't know, that was. It makes her the oldest Olympian to take gold, which was a record that had actually just been set a couple of days before. And she broke that again, so. And it was her. Her biggest, you know, her. Her first gold in her career was incredible.

A (12:33)

And her kids there and her sobbing on the podium. I had all the feels. I was like, I mean, that woman has been through it. Five Olympics.

C (12:44)

Incredible.

A (12:45)

Five medals. Never had won gold. And with that gold, she becomes tied with Bonnie Blair as the most decorated US Women's Winter Olympian ever. And she's still racing on Saturday.

C (12:59)

So, yeah, she has a chance to break it, so I think it'll be really cool. And it's also been, I think, bobsled in particular. When I was in Milan, I got to meet a couple of the athletes that are on Team USA but didn't make it to the Olympic team. And their energy around that team is just so incredible. They're all so supportive of each other and they're so excited about this sport. So it's. It's so cool to see it be one of the biggest stories this Winter Olympics, I think, because it's a sport that we kind of forget about until we get to the Olympics.

B (13:27)

So.

A (13:27)

Yeah. And you could see that. Like, all of them so genuinely excited. And Humphrey's as well. Kaylee. Humphrey's got the. The bronze as well.

C (13:35)

The bronze, yeah. Double podium.

A (13:36)

Yeah. Which was great to see. Okay. Michaela Shiffrin. This morning I woke up to it. Let's go.

C (13:45)

I was so thrilled. I woke up. That was the first thing I saw. First text messages that I sent out today. Incredible. And this was for anyone who doesn't know, this was Michaela's first gold in this Olympics. But this was also. This also made her the most decorated US Olympian in terms of Alpine skiing. So this was incredible with her. I believe she's the only American to do this, like, and actually take the three golds in the Olympics, male or female.

A (14:12)

Only American to now hold three Olympic gold medals.

C (14:17)

Yes. So impressive. And with that, I thought. I think we talked about this when I was on earlier. It was something that we were kind of like, is it. Is this going to be the Olympics where she doesn't manage to do it? But I think such an incredible, like, ending to her Olympic story as well to. To be able to bring that across the board.

A (14:36)

Oh, I know. I was so thrilled for her because, I mean, for. For the party people. You may recall Michaela captured gold in the 2014 Sochi Games. She then got another gold in Pyeongchang four years later. But then in the 2022 Games in Beijing, she. She not only did she go home without a medal, she crashed in, like, half of her six events. And also, Marissa, those Beijing Games, you May recall, in 2022, she had lost her father tragically, who she was so close to in February of 2020. And she actually mentioned her dad after winning this gold, this final gold in the post game presser. I don't want to be in life without my dad, she said as she fought back tears. And maybe today was the first time that I could actually accept this reality instead of thinking I would be going in this moment without him, to take the moment to be silent with him.

B (15:42)

Oh, so devastating.

C (15:44)

But I think very beautiful. So, yeah, yeah, it's also worth mentioning. I think we talked about this the first time I was on the podcast, but she's also coming back from a pretty incredible injury from last season where she had that crash and she had this puncture wound that was essentially. Essentially like a stab wound that she had to. She had to rehab from there. So I think it's so incredible not only to see this, like, incredible length to her career and to have such winning elements of it at each kind of bookend almost, but also for this to be coming off of. I mean, personally, if I fell alpine skiing and they were like, oh, you have a stab wound that almost punctured your colon, I would have been like, right. So I think I'm done. Like, right, that's the end.

B (16:25)

She's like, no, I think I'll take.

C (16:26)

I'll take one more gold.

A (16:27)

I know these, these Winter Olympians are such badasses.

C (16:32)

I'm like, so incredible.

A (16:34)

Oh, I'd be like, I'm good. Thanks. All good. Okay. Topic number two, the Blade Angels. This trio, they. They're trying to win the first individual women's figure skating medal for the US since Sasha Cohen did it with silver in 2006. So the blade Angels, which my understanding that they name themselves. Does that sound right? Kind of like espresso?

C (17:01)

Yeah. Yeah. The same way that the. The U.S. gymnastics team does the same thing. They pick their own name.

B (17:09)

So the.

C (17:10)

The. The Blade Angels is what we got out of figure skating. And this was honestly very fun because it was. It started with a press conference that was right after they got named to the team. And with that, they were asked, like, which figure skating movie they were most like. And that. That was. What we got was, like, this. Blades of Glory, Charlie's Angels. And then they couldn't remember how many people were in each. Each movie. So that's how we got to the. The mashup, to my understanding, because they first said Blades of Glory, and Isabel was like, there's only two guys. There's two people in that.

B (17:43)

There's.

C (17:44)

There's three of us. So I think that's where Charlie's Angels got put into the mix.

A (17:47)

And two dudes. No, that's a good mashup. I support that. The Blade Angels. Okay. All right. And so where. Where are we standing with them?

C (17:58)

Yeah. So we just had. Obviously, they took team gold when we had the team competition earlier, and we know that we had a kind of disappointing show in the men's individual as well. But we just had the short program for the women. So coming out of that, Alyssa Liu is in the best place to medal. She had a really great run, and she, I think, is. Is going in with a pretty open run to be able to stand on that podium for us after the long. The long program. So it'll be interesting to see how it all goes.

A (18:27)

I wonder, you guys at this skating event. I bet you are. I bet you are, too. Abby.

B (18:35)

Not.

A (18:35)

Not me and Marissa. Nope. You're just over here working. We're working. You guys have so hard. You guys have fun in Milan over there watching all the events. Okay? USA Canada. I know that. I know you two were at that one. Zip it. Okay. USA Canada. I saw Marie Philippe Poulon. She comes back from injury, and she breaks the scoring record.

C (19:04)

She has the most goals in the Olympics, and it's incredible.

A (19:09)

This is the Canadian captain, Captain Clutch. She's literally ripped the hearts out of US Hockey players for the last three Olympics.

C (19:19)

She is like, the thing about Marie Phillip Holland is that you cannot dislike her even when you're rooting for Team usa. I think she's just so incredibly good. And to come back from that injury and also in her. In the game where she broke that record, I believe she had the only two goals for the candidate in that.

A (19:36)

And that's the 2.1 semifinal victory that gets them to the finals.

C (19:40)

Exactly.

A (19:41)

The United States.

C (19:42)

I will say. I don't know if you saw that we had from their. Their. Their game. The captain of the opposing team said that they were messy and beatable, which I thought was interesting because it was a pretty close game versus what we've seen from Team usa, where they've just come in and dominated, including our match against Canada, which, notably, Marie was not on the ice for that game. I do think that's important to note, but, yeah.

A (20:06)

However, Marie was on the ice for the rivalry series and the four games prior to that, although I don't think they fielded all of their best teams for that. But the US has been crushing in the Olympics, as we know, the women's hockey team. Right. Five shutouts outscored of the six games. Outscored opponents 31 to 1 in these six games. They've scored at least five goals in all their games. They are looking so good. And as I said, it's always been this US Canadian rival rivalry that has always seemed to. Of all the Olympics I've been to, it's been heartache after heartache for the US Team, you know, because they're. They're winning silver, they're winning silver, they're winning. They thinking and so close to winning gold. But this feels like the chance where they're going to make the breakthrough, for sure. They've been so dominant.

C (20:54)

Yeah. I think also on this shutout, the other thing that's important is that they actually have broken the record for the longest minutes of shutouts in the Olympics. And it's a huge, huge run. And it's also just barely under the record for the NHL for shutout minutes. So this team is. It can't be understated how incredible this lineup has been.

B (21:14)

Oh,

A (21:17)

let's go. King's gonna be at the final. I know you're excited, King. She's like, abby, I think it has to come home. We can watch it here.

C (21:31)

The two of you can watch together. That'll be best.

A (21:37)

She was blown away, though, watching the semifinal live. She's like, oh, my gosh, they're so good. I'm like, I know. It's so fun to see them live.

C (21:45)

So the other thing going into this game is I think our captain, Hillary Knight, also is going to be in a pretty good mood, because one of my favorite kind of, like, Olympic romance stories is Hilary Knight and Brittany Bow. Brittany Bow is a US Speed skater, and she's Incredible. And also we know her from her big story of giving up her spot for Aaron Jackson originally. But she and Hillary actually fell in love at the last Olympics and they have been inseparable ever since. And everything about their love story makes me so jealous. In the way that you're like, oh, I'm never gonna be in love.

B (22:19)

But.

C (22:22)

But Hillary posted this morning that she proposed to Britney, so she's going into this final engaged, which is very exciting.

A (22:29)

And. And they wrote and on their post. Olympics brought us together. This one made us forever. Oh, heart,

B (22:39)

big heart.

A (22:40)

Eyes, so cute. Oh, yeah, that is. That is such a good story. We told that story well. Aaron Jackson told that story when she was on our pod last month, or not last month, a couple weeks ago about just how amazing, selfless it was for her to say, you know what? You have the best chance of actually winning gold at the Olympics. I'm going to give you my spot. So, yeah, hopefully we can have Hillary and Britney both on the pod. We get back when they get back, which would be fun. And Britney has one more event that she's running that she's racing in the 1500. And of course, Hillary is going to compete in that gold medal match. So US A, U. S. Okay, Marissa, thank you so much for taking the time to join us. That is your special Olympic party starter. And coming up, how many different steps or layers do you think, Abby? This one. Are you still there? Abby had in her pregame routine slash superstitions. Would you bet two, Marissa.

C (23:49)

At least two. It feels like maybe more.

A (23:51)

Higher.

B (23:52)

Four.

A (23:53)

Four.

C (23:53)

I'm gonna go with. I'm gonna put. I'm gonna put five for my.

A (23:56)

No, keep going. Not even.

B (23:58)

Really More. Seriously?

A (23:59)

You're joking. This routine, it's honestly, it's crazy.

B (24:05)

Stay with us.

C (24:06)

Oh, I can't wait to hear about it.

B (24:12)

Okay, so, Jules Peloton is shaping the future of fitness with the brand new Peloton cross training tread plus power. It's the most incredible thing. It's powered by Peloton iq.

A (24:28)

Yeah. Have it. It is amazing. And as you can imagine, abs, I'm pretty particular about how I work out because I can't just like run on my own anymore. I can't just run like that. Like, obviously we spent our life doing that and training that way, but it is the hardest thing and I won't do it. I just won't. I won't do it anymore. It's not enjoyable. And that's why this new Peloton tread plus is amazing, because you get all the classes, of course, in front of you so you feel like you're in a class, but you can totally mix things up. You're not just running. You can swivel that screen and you can get off and start doing a little boot camp on the side.

B (25:11)

It's so sweet. Oh, cool.

A (25:13)

The swivel. I was like, what?

B (25:15)

It's the best. It's also. It's been a game changer for me because, like you, I can't run, but I can't run because I have foot problems. And so the tread and the forgiving nature of the actual tread helps me to be able to actually move. I can walk on there. I can get an incline on there. I can swivel that screen. But I think what I love most is that the screen swivels in a way where I can guide and I can do the pilates on the ground. I can do weightlifting. I'm, like, literally looking at this peloton plus tread. It's. It's just.

A (25:48)

It's in your basement. It's down in your basement. My wife loves it.

B (25:51)

Seriously, I'm stunned how much. I actually didn't know I needed this. It mixes up my weekly routine. It's guide guides by instructors. Like, I feel like I've got friends and I've got trainers on my side now.

A (26:02)

Yeah, Yeah. I love it too. I love it. So let yourself run, lift, sculpture, push, and go.

B (26:10)

It does it all.

A (26:10)

Explore the new peloton cross training tread +@1peloton.com all right, Jules.

B (26:17)

It's a new year, so that means resetting, refocusing, and getting your space ready to support how you actually live and work.

A (26:27)

Yeah, exactly. And we talk a lot about preparation on the show, and honestly, your home plays a huge role in that. I spend my new year. This is full disclosure. January is all for me about decluttering like it's an obsession. Abby. Because then I feel better. I'm creating a space we can live comfortably in, happily in. Which is why I'm excited to tell everyone about our sponsor, Wayfair. They have everything to help you. Then after you've decluttered, get organized, have that space actually reflect how you want your new year's intentions to be lived out. And I know.

B (27:14)

And, Jules, Wayfair makes it super easy. Like, the bedding, the towels, the storage furniture. Everything is one place. One place.

A (27:22)

And I have actually been really focused on making my outdoor spaces, because when you're inside a lot, all day, working, I want my outdoor spaces to be a Place I can sit and enjoy and even work. And so I. I spruced up my entire outdoor living area. The side patio. Full new patio set. Yeah. So I can have, like, coffee there. I can work there. It's sunny. It's the sunny side of the house in the morning and especially in the winter. That's really nice. So it's fabulous.

B (27:54)

I love that. Jules, I should come by maybe and visit you.

A (27:57)

There you go. We can work together, which we do all the time anyways.

B (28:00)

I know. I also think what's great is that Wayfair has, like, the most massive selection for every style and for every budget. And it's fun to, like, visualize the pieces in your space. And I know our listeners will find something that they love. I just. I just absolutely know it.

A (28:17)

That's right. Party people get organized, refreshed, and back on track this new year. For way less. Head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. That's W A Y F A I R.com Wayfair Every style, every home, every party. Abigail, we, and I know this about us, love a scrappy startup.

B (28:47)

That's what we are.

A (28:48)

That's what we are. And we also know quite a bit about launching our own ventures. And. And look, I have a ton of friends who have done it, too, but when you run a business, sometimes you can be a little too scrappy. Sometimes you end up doing the work of 10 people all by yourself.

C (29:06)

Yes.

A (29:07)

And that's why we cannot recommend QuickBooks enough, because here's what we've learned. And sometimes the hard way, when you run a business, doing it yourself quietly turns into doing absolutely everything yourself. Everything. Yeah. And eventually, as we know, that stops feeling brave and scrappy and good and starts feeling exhausting. QuickBooks gives you an actual team, AI agents and trusted experts. So doing it yourself no longer means doing it alone. Your numbers, your data, your insights, everything is finally in one place and you can actually see what's going on and move forward with confidence. Outdoit with Intuit QuickBooks. Learn more about Intuit QuickBooks@quickbooks.com. If you're like us and we've been watching a lot of the Olympics, you notice some pretty good superstitions. So, abs, did you see Michaela Shiffrin, for example? Yes, obviously. Rockstar USA alpine skier. She eats gummy bears before her runs. Did you see that?

B (30:19)

I did. It's so good. And also, like, just from, like, a physiological, like, what's happening in your body, having a high dose of sugar just before you go do something extraordinarily hard, like ski downhill in a squat for whatever it is, minutes. That's like the right thing. Like, we would have like loads of just pure sugar. Not good for you to eat right before you go. So you increase your glucose stores.

A (30:50)

Little pop.

B (30:51)

Little pop, yeah. She especially likes to eat the sour ones because it snaps her into like focus, which I think, yeah, that's, that's like the smelling salts. But she uses sour gummy bears. That's so good.

A (31:05)

I know. Jesse Diggins, USA cross country skiing. Also rock star. Always races with glitter on her face because she said for her it's about joy and confidence. Let's glitter up is what she says. She wrote back on a blog post in 2016. Putting on glitter before my race is a salute to the little girl who just wants to go super speed.

B (31:35)

Yeah, because we're all just little girls just trying to go out there and compete.

A (31:40)

Right? And she says it's a ritual that gets me in the right mindset to get out of the start gate and give it everything I have. Eileen Goo from Stanford. Student right now, grew up in San Francisco. She competes for China and freestyle skiing. Performs a full warm up routine, even in ski boots. Before every run, she taps her body and pulls in a set pattern. Pattern always in eights for consistency. And she designed her own superstitions on superstitions on purpose, calling it mentally strengthening. Do you know why they do everything in eights in China?

B (32:20)

Why?

A (32:22)

Because I noticed that 8 is always their lucky number, but I couldn't remember why it's their lucky number. Did you know that when they hosted the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.

B (32:33)

Yes, I do ceremonies. I missed that one.

A (32:37)

August 8th, 2008.

B (32:40)

So 8, 8, 8, 8.

A (32:43)

And then the opening ceremony started at 8:08pm that's taking it to the next level. That's how. That's how superstitious they are about the number eight. Okay.

B (32:57)

It.

A (32:57)

When you pronounce it in Chinese, it sounds close to the word for prosperity. And they, they equate it with success and prosperity and good things. Yeah. Okay, party people, to the partiest part of our party. With all this superstition talk around the Olympics and what athletes do or do not do before they compete, we got to talking about our superstitions and over the years and thought it would be fun to do a larger segment on the heart of the matter. Do superstitions even work?

B (33:37)

Yes. Yes.

A (33:39)

Okay, so first off, maybe we should define what a superstition is in sports.

B (33:45)

Oh, there's like actually a definition. Good.

A (33:47)

A superstition is a repetitive behavior. And let's be clear, we athletes often get a bit rigid about them, as we athletes believe it will influence our performance despite having no logical connection to the outcome. It often appears when athletes feel uncertain or anxious and want to create a sense of control. But here's the thing again. I go back to Dr. Colleen Hacker on all of this. Our mental skills and mindset expert with the US Women's National Team. For years, she's literally worked with about every Olympian out there. She points out, superstitions are not fully under your control. Superstitions control you. Routines are what you control. So even though we may know it's not rational as athletes, but in high pressure moments, we feel like we need something to calm our nerves or restore that sense of order.

B (34:49)

What are yours? Do you have any, like, did you have any pre game, whatever you want to call them, rituals or superstitions?

A (34:58)

Like I. I did in high school. I had a. Before every high school soccer game. This is so weird. I had the same pair of underwear that had little teddy bears and soccer balls on it.

B (35:11)

Teddy bears and soccer balls? Like a soccer. Like a teddy bear playing soccer?

A (35:17)

No, there was like a step and repeat pattern on the underwear of like, teddy bear, soccer ball, teddy bear, soccer ball.

B (35:26)

And I don't know, you were like,

A (35:27)

these are the ones my high school soccer team crushed. We won 87 straight games. And so every game they would ask, and this went on for four years, right? They would ask, do you have your underwear on? And I had to flash my little teddy bear and soccer balls. And you can imagine, abs after four years of wearing this underwear and having the stress of having to have them on and washed and who knows if they were always washed, but I burnt those things after I was like, I'm done with this damn superstition. No more superstitions.

B (36:01)

Oh, interesting. Did you wear them because you were with the national team at that point, right?

A (36:06)

I did, yeah. I did not wear them with the national team that I recall. I was like, I can only do this. Mission Viejo High School. Go Diablos. Okay, what about you? What superstitions did you have?

B (36:18)

Oh, gosh. I mean, a lot, sadly.

A (36:24)

Sadly.

B (36:25)

Yeah, because it became kind of.

A (36:27)

Yeah, it takes a lot of.

B (36:29)

Yeah. It became like this thing that I would blame my poor performance on. Right. Like, if I played well, I attributed it to my pregame rituals or pregame. I actually called them pregame rituals. I didn't call them superstitions.

A (36:46)

Oh, you Did? Why?

B (36:48)

Yeah, because it felt like what I was doing because there was so much pattern to it that, like, I felt like it would get me into the kind of focused and, like, mental state that I needed to be in to be able to perform at my best. So it would start, like, the day before. I had to drink, like, a very specific minimum amount of water. I had to eat a very specific meal, which was one chicken breast, and then salad. And sometimes we would have, like, morning games, and that really threw chicken and salad for breakfast. That would throw. That would throw a wrench in it because I couldn't do that for breakfast. For breakfast. I just still. I was just like. And so then it was either chicken and salad or, like, eggs, you know, just very, like, protein rich. And then as we would be leading, like, I'd have to go get my gear, and I would pick up my gear very specifically. And. And by the way, folks, like, this is, like, over the course of a 30 year lifetime of playing the sport. So it was like, it took a while to develop. Right. Like, early days, I wasn't doing half of the. But, like, pretty. Pretty soon into my career, I started. And anytime I played well or scored, I would just remember. I'd go back through the entirety of, like, the prior 24 hours and I would try. Yeah, try to replicate everything. So then it kind of just became this, like, ritualistic science. And I won't go through the whole thing, but my pregame ritual in the locker room, I mean, I had to sit next to the same person. I sat next to Christy Rampone every time I'd have to, like, play your

A (38:35)

entire national team career, you had to sit next to Christy?

B (38:38)

Yes, we sat next to each other,

A (38:40)

like, in the locker room.

B (38:42)

No, so on the bus, so. Oh, on the bus. Yeah. Okay. We'd get on the bus and I'd sit down and I would have to. I'd have to win a solitaire game on my phone. And, like, sometimes. Sometimes I know, and sometimes I didn't

A (38:58)

know any of this.

B (38:59)

I'm like, going, I'm going. And, like, then my rituals started to become part of Christie's rituals because she'd be like, did you. Did you win? And I'm like, yeah. She'd be like, okay, okay. And then before we would leave the bus, I'd say. I'd say, let's go. Every time we leave the bus. And then we would get off the bus, go into the locker room, I'd put my clothes on. But in the process of putting my clothes on, oh, my God.

A (39:26)

You'd have another seven rituals.

B (39:28)

Oh, Julie. It does not end.

A (39:30)

My God.

B (39:32)

Dude.

A (39:32)

Stressed listening to this for you.

B (39:35)

And then I would put my left. My left sock on, by the way.

A (39:40)

Yeah, this little left, right thing people had.

B (39:43)

Yeah. I put my left sock on, put my foot into the cleat, and then I put my shin guard on. And then I would tape that shin guard up.

A (39:52)

Only the left side.

B (39:53)

The left side. And then I would tap, tap, tap. Heel, toe, heel. And then. And then I would go to the right. One sock. Wait.

A (40:06)

Tap, tap, tap for.

B (40:07)

I don't know, dude. I don't know. Just getting into the floor, just getting into the flow. I was like. And then one day I scored. And so then it was tap, tap, tap. And then the rest of the time in the locker room, I would kind of make it my mission to. With other people's rituals. Like, that was part of my ritual. Like, wait, if you had so many

A (40:29)

rituals, you wanted to. With people's rituals, why?

B (40:33)

Yeah, because it was like, you know, I was just trying to, like, stir up some sort of, like, energy in myself and I. And in order to get connected, I actually. This is going to sound so silly and insane, but I truly believe this, that I think that there's something really holy about going through the process of rituals to get prepared for something important. And, like, there's some sort of energy vibration thing that gets, like, enacted and activated in you. And then when I actually start to tap into other people doing the exact same thing for themselves, we all then collectively get connected.

A (41:08)

So I said I would be disrupting their connection.

B (41:13)

No, but I was conjoining.

A (41:15)

Oh, right.

B (41:17)

I was powering up.

A (41:20)

I was joining their harmony and rituals. Okay.

B (41:24)

And energy. But I was.

A (41:27)

Wait, so you go left foot, tap, tap, tap.

B (41:29)

Yeah, everything.

A (41:30)

Left side, right foot.

B (41:31)

Yeah. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. Get up. And I would eat a few, like, specific things. And as, like, the years went on, we would have to drink disgusting, like, beet juice before we went on. And so that became part of the ritual, watching Rachel Bueller go through all of her pictures, every single game, sitting next to her. She was usually my seatmate because of our numbers. She would go through these pictures.

A (41:56)

She had her. Her ritual, too, was going through the pictures.

B (41:59)

Yes. And this person, Rachel Bueller, she looked at these pictures, the exact same pictures, for 10 years. I watched her do it for 10 straight years. And this woman looked at these pictures as if they were the first time she's ever looked at them, every single game. I love that. So good. Much. I love that.

A (42:20)

Oh, God. That just reminded me. I used to. This is kind of a. It wasn't a superstition, but it was a routine. I would read quotes, I wouldn't look at pictures. I would read quotes in this quote book all the time. And that was my pregame, kind of.

B (42:36)

Yes. What else would you do? I've been talking for a long time. I still have more. I still got more. By the way.

A (42:44)

I want you to keep going. This is so good. I didn't know any of this.

B (42:47)

No.

A (42:47)

I. I realized, like, the whole underwear thing became so much work that I was like, f this. I didn't. I don't want a superstition. I just want to be me and go out there and not have to overthink it. See, I'm not a thinker, as it's becoming very apparent in everything I do. I'm not an overthinker. If I'm thinking too much, Christine Lilly would be like, what's wrong with you? Why are you so serious? You just gotta feel it.

B (43:14)

Yeah.

A (43:14)

Like, why are you thinking? I'm like, I don't know. Why am I thinking? You're right. Like, just feel it and have fun and go out there and like, it doesn't mean I didn't prepare. It's just that that was my. I used to say to Colleen Hacker, that's my IPZ is not thinking about it. And so I was the one that would go and try and mess with people's IPZs.

B (43:36)

Yeah.

A (43:37)

She called them ideal performance zone before game. Because I want to just have fun. I wanted to be loose. Yeah. It was kind of a paralysis by analysis type of situation for me. So that, the whole superstition thing. After high school, I was like, I don't want to do this anymore. I want. I just want to be like. Like in the moment, enjoying it, not overthinking it.

B (43:57)

But you read some quotes you read.

A (43:59)

I would read quotes beforehand that would get me fired up.

B (44:02)

So, like, no left foot, right foot on the field. No, no, no high fiving players in a specific way.

A (44:08)

Oh, I would. I would kick the ball with Christine Lilly. That was the first thing we always did.

B (44:13)

Yep, Here we go.

A (44:15)

We would pass.

B (44:16)

You'd pass? Yep.

A (44:18)

No. Let's go. Coming off the bus.

B (44:24)

Wait.

A (44:24)

What else did you have?

B (44:25)

Keep going.

A (44:25)

This is so good.

B (44:27)

Okay, so where does this come from?

A (44:29)

From you. I didn't know you were. You were this analytical and. And like orderly.

B (44:37)

Honestly, I think it just was. It's a survival technique. In order to. I do think that there was like a semblance of like, need to somehow control. I think my success and my ability to score goals felt so random and I wanted to bring more unrandomness to it. Whatever that word is.

A (45:07)

Order.

B (45:07)

Yeah, I needed to bring some order too, because it felt like. And I still feel this way. It feels like insane to score the goals that I scored. Like, if I feel that way. Like I felt, because I. I feel like in my body I feel like a normal person, like, for real. But I think that the out there athlete version of me feels like. Felt like a superhuman person in a way. And so like navigating and, and accepting both of those things to be true at the same time. I felt like I had to like, get into my spirit sports hero zone and that like, it was like me going into like the telephone booth. Right. Like Superman. Like that.

A (45:56)

That's what, like putting your cape on.

B (45:58)

Yeah.

A (45:59)

Required.

B (46:00)

Exactly. Like, I felt like I needed to, like, and there were steps that I had to. And it felt like a commitment in a way. Like, I'm committed and if I'm going to do these proper steps, I. Then, then and only then will I have a solid performance. And a lot of the times it wasn't. It was like approving to myself that I. That I could do this weird, really weird, wacky routine every single time. And also when you do the, when you play a game over and over and over again, it also brought like a little bit of interest, like, oh, I wonder if I'll complete my thing.

A (46:39)

Oh, my gosh. It was like another challenge.

B (46:41)

Yeah.

A (46:42)

Okay, so that was going to be my next question is because there is some data that says superstitions. So for example, Michael Gervais, Dr. Michael Gervais, who is also like. Dr. Colleen Hacker, has worked with a ton of Olympic athletes on mindset and mental skills. And he said this on the Tim Ferriss show. He said superstitions create a fragile mindset. If your lucky socks are gone, so is your confidence. Champions train for flexibility. The best performers embrace uncertainty and develop routines that help them reset and focus on purpose. Dr. Colleen Hacker has also said confidence should come from preparation, not magic. So she encourage, encourages controllable routines. But maybe that's what yours were. They were controllable.

B (47:34)

I think they were. Yeah. And also, I will be honest, like, sometimes I didn't fulfill every single one of them because there's probably like a hundred.

A (47:42)

Right.

B (47:42)

And I think that I gave myself the benefit of the doubt, like, sometimes, like, so for an example, there were things that I knew that I would for sure be able to do every time. However, there were a few things that were kind of out of my control. Like for an example, before we would go out to the game, we'd come into a huddle. And right before the huddle, during our warmup process, I would need to juggle the ball below my knees 25 times. One touch. And then on the 25th time, I'd kick the ball up really high. And as it would come down, I would trap it. I would trap it against the ground and like a nice little trap. And like, there were like some days that I just could not get 25. One touch juggles under my knees. And sometimes I couldn't trap the ball well. So I'd have to start the fucking whole thing all over again. Like, it's crazy.

A (48:33)

You are killing me.

B (48:34)

Right? I know. And there were some times where I would. I had. I had to see the ball hit the back of the net before we would come into the huddle as well. So we would. We would do a shooting warmup before, prior to the game. And I needed to actually, with visibly see the ball hit the net. I needed to see the net shake as like, as like a vision, like a, you know, trying to call into like, what's an envision, an imagery thing. I'm like, trying to see it in real life so that I can do later in the game. And it became part of my. My pregame ritual that. That the goalkeepers now knew that this is part of my ritual.

A (49:18)

Right. That I let one in.

B (49:20)

Yeah, I'd say, let it ride, let it ride. And they hated it because they don't want to let me score the goal. But I was like, I got to see a hit, you know, and then I would come over to like. So some of those things, like, were. Were probably pretty gonna happen for sure. But then there's some, like, some. It still goes on. I come back to the pregame huddle and I grab a water bottle while the whole team is getting ready. They're like getting in the huddle and I take like maybe 10 steps away and I'm pouring water all over my face, all over my hair, and I flip the water bottle so that it flips back up and down on its thing that often. That oftentimes times didn't work out. And then, Jules.

A (50:10)

I would sleep on the ground.

C (50:12)

Yeah.

B (50:12)

You know. You know the water bottle flip.

A (50:14)

Yeah.

B (50:15)

Basically I was. I was trying to do that.

A (50:17)

Okay. And if it didn't land did it. Did it stress you out?

B (50:19)

A little bit. But that one was, like, a hard one.

A (50:22)

That was hard.

B (50:22)

Yeah, that was a hard one to land.

A (50:24)

Right?

B (50:24)

So it was like, oh, I'm going to have a really good game. Or I'm just like, oh, I'm going to have a fine game.

A (50:29)

Okay.

B (50:30)

And then I would slap my face as hard as I could three times in a row.

A (50:34)

One, two, three. Maybe this is why I didn't score so many goals. I needed to slap my face three times. Come on, bitches. Come on. Oh, my God. Keep going.

B (50:53)

What else? And then you're like, I have more.

A (50:56)

I have more. I do.

B (50:58)

Then we would do the huddle, and I would be in the huddle, and I would have to start screaming about something, fumble my words because I was too excited. And then the team would laugh at me. And then Christy would say, all right, USA on three. One, two, three. Usa.

A (51:16)

You guys were a good. What do they call it? Yin Yang. That's so good.

B (51:21)

Yeah. And then we would go out to the field, and all of the forwards have a specific handshake that we do every single time. And it's this boom, boom, boom, boom. And then if Alex scored a goal, I would say, let's get you another one. And she would say, no, no, no, let's get you another one. Because when we would say that, we often would score one ourselves. So.

A (51:57)

And so she.

B (51:58)

It was.

A (51:59)

Oh, my God.

B (52:01)

I know.

A (52:01)

Who knew this episode would be, like, earth shattering for me? Like, all these things I didn't even know. I know. Wow.

B (52:11)

Yeah. There was a lot. And I'm sure I'm not leaving out a bunch, but it all feels a

A (52:17)

little overwhelming to me.

B (52:19)

It is, it is. I'm. My heart rate is a little bit high because I'm like, God, how did I. How did I keep track of this?

A (52:27)

Oh, my goodness. Party people, we want to hear from you. Like, what did you. Did you do all this thing? Did you do the tap, tap, tap? There's. I know there's a lot of people that did left foot, right foot. And we also. Because. Why not? We asked our friends, too, but.

B (52:45)

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

A (52:47)

Did you ask any friends?

B (52:48)

I did. Let me look. I texted Ali Krieger and she said, who? Ali Krieger won World Cups. I think she won Olympic medals.

A (52:58)

U.S. women's National Team.

B (53:00)

U.S. women's national team star. Played for the Spirit and Gotham at the end, I think. And she said, yes. I put my left sock, boot, and shin guard on before my right. Oh, my Gosh, that's you. Yep. Yep. How about you? Did you have any.

A (53:17)

So they did the full leg first?

B (53:19)

Yeah.

A (53:20)

Okay, so you got Kriegs. Yeah, I did a 99er trifecta. Okay. So Lil said, Not necessarily superstitions, but one. I did three jump headers before the whistle. Do you remember her doing that?

B (53:37)

Yes.

A (53:37)

I totally do too.

B (53:39)

She'd do those. Yep.

A (53:41)

I can't do it in my chair, but you get it.

B (53:43)

Yep.

A (53:44)

She would high five my left back, which was Brandy.

B (53:49)

Oh, yeah, yeah.

A (53:52)

She didn't mention our passing. I just noticed she didn't mention passing. Lil. That I felt like was really important are passing. She three would try to find my dad in the stands. And she said before the 99 finals, she couldn't find him. I wonder how that made her feel.

B (54:14)

Well, it was fine. She saved the ball off the line and she scored a penalty. Like, get out of here. You did fine.

A (54:20)

You did fine. She was okay. Okay. Mia said I would put on my socks, shin guards, and cleats. The same each game. Right then left. Oh, gosh. Also, if we won and I was sitting next to someone in the bus, then that would be my seat partner the rest of the tournament.

B (54:39)

Yeah.

A (54:39)

Abby took it to a new level. She had the same seat partner for years, her entire career. Brandy said I didn't put on any of my uniform until the locker room. I don't know how you do that because you're warming up. I don't know.

B (54:58)

Oh, she would wear, like, the sweats and then. And then would get the. Her underwear and stuff on. Okay.

A (55:06)

She said. And then after crossing, I'd put. I didn't put on my uniform until after crossing the threshold of the locker room. That's when I went from easy go lucky to in happy to I'm gonna kick your ass mode.

B (55:27)

I love that.

A (55:29)

Okay. Ali Riley, New Zealand, Angel City, Stanford captain. She played in what, five world Cups, four Olympic Games for New Zealand. Oh, captain. My captain, Ali Riley. She said this. This made me laugh so hard because we were very similar. I have lucky spandex. That's what she said. I go, oh, I had lucky underwear. And she said that. I said, did you wear the same pair? And she said, yes. So much so it. That. That the same pair has holes.

B (56:04)

Yeah.

A (56:05)

You can ask Brock, our quick equipment manager. Had to be the same. The band was separating from the shorts.

B (56:11)

Yeah, yeah.

A (56:12)

I said, oh, my God. That was me. She was.

B (56:15)

I wore the same sports bra for about 15 years. Oh, you did, for sure. Yeah. Shannon Box I texted her. She said, I'm not sure that this is what you're talking about, but I would say I became obsessed with having to have the same breakfast every game day. Had to French braid my hair. And I always put my right sock and shin guards on, then my left, then my right shoe, then my left shoe. And I said, this is perfection. And she went on to say, and Aaron, her husband, always told me that he could see it when my mind would shift into focus mode before leaving for games if he was with us in the hotel because they started having children. And then she said, it's when he would leave me alone. Shannon, who played on the national team for, you know, over a decade, and we actually went through the national team during the exact same time frame back from 03 till 2015, I think when

A (57:15)

we both retired because of all our Olympic examples, I made sure to reach out to Michelle Kwan, the Olympic figure skater who is, she had like a decade long career. She won silver, she won bronze at various Olympics and is one of the most decorated figure skaters in Olympic history. And abs. Let me just find it. Michelle said, oh, left before right. Oh my gosh, you left writers. Left skates on before right and almost everything. And I said, perfect. Was it helpful? That I don't know. But everything in my life was choreographed and structured, so why not add one more thing? That's so good.

B (58:02)

I asked Lauren Chaney. I asked Lauren Chaney Holliday, who played on the national team with me for, I think pretty much my whole career. Young, younger than I. So maybe, maybe she shows up in 07.08. She actually replaced me when I broke my leg to go to the Beijing Olympics in 08. She said, I didn't. I just had to eat six hours before the game. And I prayed. Oh, isn't that so sweet? I was like, this is so good.

A (58:37)

I love this, Lauren. Oh, that's good.

B (58:41)

I know. So good.

A (58:42)

I prayed. Yeah. Oh, so good.

B (58:46)

I think that we all were what we're, all of us ritual people. This is our form of physical prayer. Right. She was probably doing it with her God, but I was doing it with, in a physical form in a way.

A (59:00)

I think when I look at it in general and especially for young kids, like the idea being like, yes, if you feel like you need something that will calm your nerves and give you order, okay. But make it stuff that you can control.

B (59:15)

Totally.

A (59:16)

Right. So that you're not in a situation where if you don't have those socks or the underwear isn't there, that, that Happened to me once. Right. And you start freaking out, like, I don't have the underwear, Then what? You don't want that either. So create something that gives you the calmness that you can control. Always. Right.

B (59:39)

Good.

A (59:39)

Or, you know, there's a lot of data that also supports that. You can do breath work, you can do visual visualization, you can self talk and have, like, keywords that help you. So I would focus on things that build confidence rather than create stress.

B (60:06)

Agreed. And I think, you know, I. I've. I. I was very into trying to optimize and trying to get that little bit of edge. And I really believed in my. My body and my soul that this was giving me some semblance of an edge. And there were. I mean, the list is longer. I'm not gonna bore everybody with. With the totality.

A (60:31)

You're like, I'm just scratching the surface on this.

B (60:33)

Seriously. Like, because, I don't know, like, there's so much that is out of your control, and it feels like if there's something that you can do to make you feel like you're. Even if it's not true, like, I logically understand that it is. It is not true that me putting my sock on left foot first, then right foot is going to make me have any advantage, like, logically, but, like, spiritually and emotionally. I felt like. I don't know. It feels like what the ritual does for me is it, like, makes this. This. This puzzle that is not put together start to mold itself and form itself into something that looks like a completed puzzle. And, like, that second that you step on the field, it feels like, okay, and you get that last piece, and everything clicks into place, and then you're off. And it's like, that's what I wanted. I wanted that, and I needed to create that kind of drama. It's kind of like this internalized drama, Especially when you're doing this thing repetitively hundreds and hundreds of times. Like, going out to train and going out to play are two in games. Like, two different elevator.

A (61:58)

Yeah. Yeah. Can I do it?

B (62:00)

Giving me something else to be, like, to stay, like, interesting, stay involved, and to stay excited.

A (62:07)

But, like, it's almost like you were worried your mind would get complacent and bored.

B (62:11)

And I know myself.

A (62:13)

Yeah. And this was your way of saying, no, I'm gonna create another. I actually get that. It's what made me retire because I was bored. I was like, I don't want to play Mexico again.

B (62:25)

Yes.

A (62:25)

Unless it was an Olympic game or a World Cup. Game again. Everything's on the line. I was like, yeah, I shouldn't be this. This blah about this. And I was like, I don't care. I don't. I don't care enough to continue this if. Unless it's like, everything's on the line, and that's not a good place to be. I felt like, mentally.

B (62:45)

No, it's true. It's true. Yeah.

A (62:47)

Yeah. Because of that. That. That repetitive.

B (62:49)

Yeah. To each their own. But it's interesting because Emma, does Izzy have any. And. And Declan have any pregame rituals slash superstitions? That's interesting. I know Emma does. She's got specific things. She does.

A (63:04)

Izzy always has her little hair wrap she has to put in.

B (63:08)

Yes, the hair.

A (63:09)

Oh, my God. The shin guards. The hair wrap. Yeah. And then. And the taping of the shin guards is always kind of like, how to teach her to do that. But nothing. I don't. I don't know. That's a good question. I have to ask. I haven't noticed with Declan. Declan is very much like, whatever, bro. He's not like me.

C (63:30)

Yeah.

A (63:30)

Like, I'm good. I'm ready. What does Amma do?

B (63:38)

She does a few things. She's gotta. She's gotta, like, have a certain kind of breakfast. She's gotta, like, listen to a specific playlist, some. At some point. Celsius was for sure a part of it.

A (63:52)

Oh, yeah, Izzy.

B (63:53)

Yeah. But then we stop. We stopped buying Celsius for them, and so that. That, I think, has weeded itself out because they have to pay for it themselves if they want to buy it.

A (64:05)

That's a different animal. Yep.

B (64:07)

And then, I don't know. I think the hair thing. The hair. The. The Alex Morgan hair band. You know, the pre wrap. Getting that just perfectly right. And, like, if it's not perfectly right, she, like, rips it off and starts again.

A (64:25)

Oh, good. All right, party people, let us know. We want to hear what are your craziest superstitions? Because this is good. This is good. I feel like I. I learned a lot about you today, Abigail, and thank you for that.

B (64:39)

You're welcome.

A (64:40)

I'm so good.

B (64:41)

Glad to share.

A (64:42)

All right, party people, don't forget to subscribe to the welcome to the party YouTube channel. Click that little bell icon so you can get updates when new episodes go live.

B (64:50)

Yeah. And if you can just take one minute, we would so appreciate it if you could please, please, please leave a comment and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and Be sure to follow us on TikTok and Instagram welcome to the Party show where Julie, Billy and I will bring the party straight to your feed. Thank you so much. Kate Diaz, again, we love our theme music. Yeah, you want to bring it in, Jules?

A (65:12)

Because Kate Diaz is doing Olympic music too for NBC. Let's go. Kate Diaz. I saw that on the Instagram story. I tried to find forwarded on but it wouldn't. I'm going to figure that out today.

B (65:22)

Also. This is a ritual. P.S. that is lasted for. Oh, yes, here's a ritual.

A (65:28)

This is. And this is how we would be in the middle of the huddle. This the. The hands would just start slapping on top of each other. Okay. On three. One, two, three.

B (65:41)

Welcome to the Party is an independent production brought to you by Treat Media. Treat Media makes art for humans who want to stay human. Initial Digital is our production partner and you can also watch our full conversations on the welcome to the party YouTube channel and follow us at welcome to the Party show on Instagram and TikTok. Thanks for listening.