{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Laces Out Loud","title":"The Women’s Game Has Outgrown the Excuses","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3324,"description":"Five games remain, the NWSL playoff race is getting ridiculous, and apparently being able to see the game you’re watching on television is still too much to ask.\nThis week, Pamitha and Gurushabd break down a chaotic Week 22 that saw Angel City surge three places up the table, Seattle fall outside the playoff line, Kansas City cling to eighth, Washington get back on track, and the middle of the standings tighten into one enormous postseason traffic jam. Plus, Ashley Sanchez remains one goal away from tying the NWSL single-season scoring record.\nThen we need to talk about #RainGate!\nThe Spirit’s 3–0 win over Chicago came with one small problem: for most of the first half, ESPN viewers could barely see it. A rain-covered camera turned a nationally televised professional soccer match into a blurry mess—and raises a much bigger question than whether somebody should have simply wiped the lens.\nWhy are women’s sports still fighting for the basic production standards routinely expected elsewhere in professional sports? And if networks, leagues, and media companies say they believe in the growth of the women’s game, when should fans expect that belief to show up in the product?\nThat leads us into another debate about how the NWSL is covered: Do fans have a right to know why a player is unavailable?\nWe respond to calls for greater transparency around injuries, absences, and potential transfers—and make the case that league growth shouldn’t come at the expense of player privacy, medical confidentiality, or bargaining power. The NWSL’s own collective bargaining agreement gives players significant control over the disclosure of their medical information, and we ask whether better journalism—not more disclosure from players—is the real answer.\nAnd because apparently we weren’t ambitious enough already, Pamitha tries to turn Gurushabd into an Australian Rules Football fan before Alli makes her triumphant return to help us preview NWSL Championship Weekend in Washington, D.C. We...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/ZzdwEoELZb1-ga2qI8OXWS8c-zXxLFLQhhoCLzX-wjY/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS85NThm/NjBmMTE2OTU5ODMz/NjkxYmRjZDcwOTAy/ZTdjYi5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}