Legendary softball outfielder Laura Berg is the most decorated softball Olympian, winning 3 gold medals, 1 silver medal and having played at every Olympic softball tournament ever held. She’s now head coach at Oregon State University and is extending her Olympic streak as a member of Team USA’s coaching staff for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. We talked with her about the game and building a team.
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TRANSCRIPT
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182-Olympian Laura Berg on Softball
Laura Berg: [00:00:00] If you’re not getting along in the locker room, it’s going to be really hard to be able to get on the field and go to war or battle and try and win a gold medal.
Jill Jaracz: hello, fans of shook, Liston, and welcome to another episode of keep the flame alive. The podcast for fans of the Olympics and Paralympics. I am your host. Jill Jaris joined as always by my lovely co-host. Alison brown, Alison. Hello, how are you today? I got my. Yeah, shot. Number one in the books
Alison Brown: shot number one in the arm, and I cannot move my [00:01:00] arm, but I’m okay with that.
I’ll get Exxon a masters tape wizard to come and take me up
Jill Jaracz: and I’ll be able to function. There you go. There you go. Well, that’s good. That’s good. Before we get started, we’d like to give a special shout out to our patrons. Your bonus mini episode celebrates mascot madness and it is out today. So be on the lookout for that.
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Laura Berg Interview
All right. Today, we are talking softball. I’m very excited. This was so much, this was such a fun interview. So, and it is
Alison Brown: a sport we’ve been wanting to cover pretty much since we [00:02:00] started.
Jill Jaracz: Right. It’s especially since now it looks like softball is a one and done in for Tokyo back out again.
And who knows about LA 28?
Alison Brown: I’m curious to see you put it back in for LA, but we’ll say
Jill Jaracz: we are talking with legendary softball, outfielder. Laura Berg. Laura is the most decorated softball Olympian winning three gold medals and one silver medal. And having played at every Olympics, softball tournament ever held.
She’s now head coach at Oregon state university and is extending her Olympic street as a member of the team USA coaching staff for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. We talked with her about the game and building a team. Take a look.
Alison Brown: Laura Berg. Thank you so much for joining us today. And we’re going to talk softball.
You are both a coach and an Olympic player, so we’ve got a lot of ground to cover. I want to start just talking a little bit about the sport itself. Most people will compare it obviously to baseball. So let’s talk about [00:03:00] the differences between the two, because more people are, are familiar with baseball than softball.
Laura Berg: Okay. Um, first thinking the ball. Yes. The ball’s a little smaller. Their back is a little bit a fatter at the end and ours bases. We’re at 60 feet. They’re at 90 feet. We pitch from 43 feet. They’re 60 feet, six inches. We’ve got a little bit more of the, um, slapping game than baseball does where a left-handed hitter kind of runs through the box, uh, and flats.
It looks to put it in play and beat it out to her. Uh, you don’t really see that in baseball, obviously their fences are way further back than ours and we pitch underhand and they pitch overhead. Why are the baths different? Ours is a little bit more even throughout, you know, the whole barrel versus their barrels a little bit bigger than ours.
Um, I would assume it’s probably because of the size of the ball, you know, ours is, um, 12 in diameter. I don’t know what [00:04:00] baseball is, so yeah.
Alison Brown: So in terms of how it actually plays out in a game, you know, obviously the pitching being the most obvious difference, but do you see more home runs in another? Do you see more singles and doubles?
How does that actually play differently?
Laura Berg: Yeah. Uh, I guess we do a little bit more of a short game, the bunting, the, the slapping portion, um, from slappers, but as far as home rhymes, no, the technology of our. We have a little bit of a different alloy in, in our back. It’s more composite where there is not. So you get a lot of, you know, the balls flying off the bat.
They, uh, we just played, um, Arizona this past weekend and we have, uh, we have a combined 17 home runs over the weekend. So you’re still gonna get the home run.
Jill Jaracz: Sorry. I’m just amazed. My mouse opened because the whole bat technology, I not going down that route, but it, now I want to talk to a Batman manufacturer.[00:05:00]
Laura Berg: Yeah. It it’s the trampoline effect. Um, the way the ball comes off, the bat becomes off faster. Even when I played in college, I’m like, holy cow. I wish I had these bats when I played in college, you know, maybe I’d have a little bit more home runs and then what I did, but anyway, these that they’re hot. The ball comes off of it very fast and they go very far.
Alison Brown: So with pitching underhand and that much larger ball, obviously there’s different pitching technique, but are. Fast balls and sliders. And are you still using the same kind of,
Laura Berg: you know, I’m not a pitcher, but we have in, in, in softball we have the rice ball and technically baseball doesn’t have that. And they’ve got that, you know, high fastball, but we’ve got a ball that actually starts low and rises up, but you know, we’ve got breaking pitches, we’ve got a screwball, we’ve got a curve ball, we’ve got a drop ball and a change up, you know, just like baseball
Jill Jaracz: when you’re batting.[00:06:00]
How fast can you tell what pitches coming at you?
Laura Berg: Um, very much time. Yeah. Um, you don’t, you don’t have very much time as they history, you know, obviously, you know, your, your site is key to be able to see the ball and, you know, there’s some hitters out there that can see. You know how a pitcher, you know, grips ball, they could tell what pitch is coming.
They can pick a change up depending on a different motion or the pitcher may have done something different on it. And so it kind of lets you know, that the change up is coming. So it kind of helps you a little bit to be able to hit off of them. But yeah, it’s it’s you gotta make your make up your mind very quickly.
Alison Brown: Are the gloves significantly different?
Laura Berg: No. No. I think for softball, we don’t tend to, at least for the outfielders, I’m not sure about the infielders in fillers. Uh, typically use smaller gloves compared to outfield and we kind of wear our gloves differently. We actually put our whole hand in it and I think baseball, [00:07:00] I think they don’t quite put their whole hand in it the way that we do for softball.
Alison Brown: So when, cause you were an outfielder as a player, so catching that, are you catching it more in your, I mean, I realize you’re in the glove, but you’re catching your Mo you’re more. Then
Laura Berg: in the west, you are not using the web. Yeah. Yeah. I’m using a web, I’m running a long distance to go catch a ball. And so I want to be able to catch it in the web and secure it, whereas infield, you know, they’ve got to feel it.
So they’re going to catch it a little bit more, uh, in the Palm of their glass so they can get to it and, and throw runners out. Cause I mean, like I said, in the slapping game, you’ve got people going down the line and 2.6 seconds. And so you’ve gotta be able to fill the ball and get rid of it quickly to be able to throw them out.
So you don’t want to really go searching. That’s why they have a smaller Mitt. You don’t really want to go searching through the ball or for the ball in your glove. And then you do that. You, you’re not going to have time. You’re [00:08:00] not gonna be able to throw out.
Alison Brown: Okay. You keep saying slapping, what, what does that mean?
Laura Berg: Yeah, so that’s usually left-handed hitters and it’s hitters that are really fast runners that are really fast. So if you get a big power lefty hitter, or you’re not really going to transition them into a slapper. So as a slapper, all you’re really trying to do is just place the ball in the infield, you know, place it where they’re not, and you just beat it out, put the ball, make the ball bounce.
So it’s in the air and now the fielder has to wait for the ball to come down. And while this is happening, you’re running to first base. And if he can get a pretty good bounce, you’re going to beat it out. Most of the time,
Jill Jaracz: that’s more left-handers cause they have less distance to travel the first base versus a right-hander.
Okay. Yes,
Laura Berg: yes. Correct. And, and, and so you, you, sorry, you’re actually running through the box. You’re not stationary, right? You are running through the box, making contact and taking off.
Jill Jaracz: Any [00:09:00] special Slappy motions or signals for that. Cause that’s all that’s going through my head. Now, anytime you say Slappy.
Oh yeah, yeah.
Laura Berg: There’s different types of slaps too. There’s the power slap where, you know, the infield or the outfielders are playing in and you want to hit it past them. Um, there’s the soft flap where, uh, the shortstop may be playing a little far back. And so you’re just trying to slap it, softer her. So she has to come in and throw on the run.
And then there’s the slap where you have to drive it into the ground and the ball goes in the air and you beat it out. There’s also where you fake that you’re bunting and you pull the bat back and you slap it. So there’s quite a bit different slaps. And so there are signals for all of. Wow.
Alison Brown: I’m sort of trying to ’cause I’m I’m I am left-handed and I did play softball as a very little kid. I mean, when I say like, we, I think we lost our first game, like 28, 24. So this is the kind of level I’m talking about here, and I’m just [00:10:00] trying to get the visual and I’m like, I can’t quite, the nuances of it are much, much more complex than I, than I realized
Laura Berg: as a hitter, as a left-handed hitter, you want to be able to see, they call you a triple threat.
So like Natasha Wiley was a triple threat. Katelyn lo is a triple threat. And what I mean by that is you can, but you can slap and you can hit away for power. And so when you have that triple threat that you become a very dangerous header. So when you get into the box, you’re like, you’re actually, you’re reading the defense and you’re seeing where they’re playing and that sets you up for what you’re going to do in the book.
Jill Jaracz: Ah, and then do the, do the base coaches also read that and signal down what, what the theaters should be thinking about? Yeah.
Laura Berg: Yeah. A lot’s going to depend too on the type of pitcher that’s on the mound. A lot will depend if there’s runners on base, because essentially you want the runners and the hitters to kind of be on the same [00:11:00] page so they know what’s going on and what they’re doing.
So, yeah, when I played like Gary Hanning, uh, for the bath busters, my travel ball, coach or Margie, right when I played at Fresno state, if there was nobody on base, they gave me the green light to be able to just read the defense. But when there was somebody on basis, typically when they gave me a signal, so we kind of, the runner and I was, was on the same
Jill Jaracz: page.
How do those signals get developed?
Laura Berg: It comes down to the coach, the signals change every year, and sometimes it’s, you know, kinda like spots on the body that. On what you know, that will relay the information to the hitter or what’s new these days is like a number system where you flash a number and then they look at a card and it tells you what it is that you’re going to do.
Alison Brown: So when, when you’re talking about international play, is there a significant difference between how say Japan plays versus the United States [00:12:00] when it comes to slapping and power hitting?
Laura Berg: Yeah, I would say Japan doesn’t typically have the short game, like. So that’ll like what your pen does is, and they’re very spicy hitters.
They’ll, they’ll fell off, pitches, fell it off, fell off, and then wait until they get the pitch that they want to get a base hit or, you know, obviously for us to try and get them out. We typically have the short game. Um, people like Haley McClenney, Kelsey Stewart, Michelle Moultrie, Jane, uh, Janie Reed, who, uh, we’ll do the, the, like the U S version of the short game.
Japan’s is just a little bit different. They don’t really run through the box, like lead you.
Jill Jaracz: What about some of the other countries?
Laura Berg: No, not, not like, not like we do. Canada does Australia is, is more, more power Mexico’s more power, same thing with Italy and the U S typically have the same, same playing [00:13:00] style.
Has that changed over the years? Well, when I played early on Ralph, Raymond was my coach and he was not, he was not big on the, the short game. Uh, the short game for the U S didn’t really happen until, uh, Mike Kendra became the coach in 2002. I believe that’s when the short game really started to pick up in the international game.
Right. Because obviously
Alison Brown: when you, cause you were playing in college at one point in the national team at the same time. Yes. Yes. So then you’re sort of switching between college play and international. And now you’re switching between college coaching and international
Laura Berg: coaching. Right? Right. Well, add this, um, early on in, um, when I was, I was doing that with my, my career because my first time making the national team was after my freshman year of college in college, we were at 43 feet in international ball.
The pitching mound or the pitching plate was 40. [00:14:00] So I would leave. I would lose three feet going to the international game when it came from, from hitting. And that’s a
Alison Brown: lot, I mean, if you’re talking about a fast pitch, three
Laura Berg: feet is, well when you’re, yeah. When you’re talking about hidden off of, you know, Lisa Fernandez and Lori Harrigan at a tryout who are thrown in the upper upper sixties to low seventies, you don’t have very much time at all.
Alison Brown: Okay. So how much does it hurt when you get hit by a pitch?
Laura Berg: You know what? I will never let a pitcher know that it hurts. I will never let them know that it hurt. I will run to first base and I can take care of it later. So my job is to get on base. I’m a table setter and let people like, you know, Stacy newsman and crystal boosters hit me in, I mean, cause that ball
Alison Brown: is big
Laura Berg: and I’m like the Wells.
Yeah.
Is it called softball? That’s [00:15:00] yeah. The first, when, when Sapo was first invented, it was called kitten ball. I have no idea why, where kitten came from, but yeah, that’s what it was called.
Alison Brown: Okay. So now you are an assistant coach for team USA and you’ve had to put together a team. What, what is that process like?
Where does it start? When does it start?
Laura Berg: It’s every quad. They call it a quad. And so every year you’re trying out for the national team. So whether it’s for like the world cup and the Japan and cup, and that’s usually the year after the Olympics. And then you have, uh, the world championship. And then you have the Pan-American games and then you have the Olympic games.
So every year you’re trying out and it’s by invitation only. And so you’ve got to get this invite to be able to come and try out sometimes are open trials. Um, the, where people will pay to come and hopefully get seen, and then [00:16:00] stay for the, uh, the trial where everybody was invited to come. But that’s typically what happens early in the summer.
So what
Alison Brown: are coaches looking for? I mean, obviously you’re looking for the best players, but it’s much more than that. I’m
Laura Berg: sure it is. It is. And it’s not always necessarily the best players that makes the team, you know, you can be one of the best players in the world, but if you have a bad attitude and you’re a bad teammate, no one wants to play with you.
You know, I know Kenny, uh, Erickson always talks about, you know, you winning, you win gold medals in the locker room. You know, if you’re not getting along in the locker room, It’s going to be really hard to be able to get on the field and go to war or battle and try and win a gold medal that way. So it’s obviously, you’ve got to have skills to be able to, to play the game, but are you, are you not a good teammate?
Alison Brown: How much moving around of players? Like a player comes to you as an outfielder or plays outfield in college, but [00:17:00] you see something like, oh, she could really fill this role with her
Laura Berg: skills, see that a lot. And it’s actually beneficial for the athlete. If they want to play it, it’s good to be able to play multiple positions.
Obviously you want to be able to be good at both positions, but like I’ve got, I’ve got two kids right now, my Oregon state team that are infielders, but they’re playing in the outfield and they’re there because they can hit. And so they’ll thing is if you can hit, because it’s going to find a spot for you on the field to play.
And so you’ve got.
Jill Jaracz: When you are an athlete and you play outfield or infield, what’s it like transitioning among the different spots in the outfield or the infield?
Laura Berg: Well, I’m an outfielder and my twin sister is an infielder and, um, we talk a lot of trash back and forth with each other. I always say out fillers role and it’s [00:18:00] easier.
Jill Jaracz: And, and infield
Laura Berg: there’s rule and infielders rule yet. Yes. And I always teaser and you know, anybody else too, I’m like, you can bring, it’s easier to bring an outfielder into the infield to play versus an infielder to the outfield, because it’s all about judging the ball and not all filters are able to judge the ball off the bat.
Huh. That’s interesting. Yeah. And you know, sometimes, you know, at practice I’ll do a little, little infield appreciation or outfield appreciation and I’ll move the. The answers to the alpha. So they see, you know, it’s not as easy as they may, they may think and, you know, put the outfielders behind the plate and be like, okay, you know, you’ve got renters coming in and it’s a bad throw, you know, the, see how hard it really is.
And so we do a little, a little bit of that at practice. Sometimes I would
Alison Brown: think in field is much more instinct like you, cause you have to react so quickly, whereas outfields, you’ve got, you’ve [00:19:00] got time to think, which could mess you up.
Laura Berg: Um, I guess it depends on the player. It never messed me up. I know
some infielders, if they’re like middle infield or if they’re the corner and you put them in the middle infield, it gives them too much time to think. And that kind of messes them up. I’ve heard that before, but yes, in fillers, you know, they’re more, they’re more reaction. You know, obviously your first step is the most important and you gotta be able to set and create angles, uh, to get to the ball as quickly as possible.
But yeah, you know, you’ve got that third base where they’re the hotspot, you know, they gotta have cat-like speed and reflexes. So
Alison Brown: how long has the U S Olympic team been together as a team?
Laura Berg: I want to say the fall of 2019, because then they started touring in January and then COVID hit and they stopped. So [00:20:00] fall of 2019 is when the Olympic team was picked.
Alison Brown: So under normal circumstances, they’re together say nine months,
Laura Berg: uh, yes, 10, 9, 10, 11 months, something like that, but
Alison Brown: obviously COVID has changed all of that. Have you had to switch anybody out for, you know, no injuries or issues so that your team has stayed together now a year, a year and a half? Almost two.
It’ll be almost two years by the time the Olympics.
Laura Berg: Right. Right. And it’s actually been kind of a blessing in disguise because it has allowed them to be together longer to, um, gel together longer. You know, um, there is a core portion of the team that has been together for four years now, five years, six years.
But there are some people that come in and out, you know, each year. And you know, we’re trying to put the, the, the pieces to the puzzle together, but there’s been a core people who have been together for quite a bit of [00:21:00] time
Alison Brown: when you’re putting that team together, you don’t necessarily know who all the rest of the teams in the tournament are going to be yet.
So you’re, you’re filling holes with the idea of what, well, if we have to play, I mean, obviously you knew you were going to have to play Japan, but it’s, if we’re gonna have to play Canada, we want to have this. If we’re going to have to play Italy, we’re going to want to have this. So there’s a lot of calculus that has to go on for the coaches, for sure.
Laura Berg: For sure. We were the first team to qualify for the 20, 20 Olympic games because we won the world championships in Japan. So while technically Japan, because of the host, but when you, you look at it as like winning a spot, we are the first one to, to win a spot for it. Okay. Okay. So
Alison Brown: going back to the naming of the team, when do you have to let the, I don’t know who this would fall into, I guess the international Federation who your team is going to be.
Laura Berg: We still have time. Oh, you don’t do that yet. Yeah, I don’t. I think [00:22:00] coach told me that I don’t think we have to make that decision until July. So, so essentially we have, we’ve got 15 people on the team and then we’ve got three alternate. So if we’re on tour and somebody goes down, we’ve got, you know, people that we can pick from to be able to fill out that spot of whoever got hurt.
So, yeah, I don’t think the final decision is made until the technical meeting. When we’re in Japan getting ready. How
Alison Brown: far in advance are you going to be there? Given the current circumstances,
Laura Berg: we will be there early July. Uh, we will go to one of our military bases. We will train there and then head on over to the Olympic village from there.
Jill Jaracz: I’m interested in the pitcher and catcher dynamics. Yeah, because I mean, you’re pulling people together who don’t necessarily play together at college or wherever else. So how do you build that pitcher and catcher dynamic? [00:23:00]
Laura Berg: Uh, that’s a very important dynamic to have because they’ve got to be on the same page.
You know, it’s a timing thing, you know, it’s a rhythm thing and a pitcher doesn’t want to have to shake off every single time to catch. It gives a signal. And so a lot of that time, they, they they’re discussing, you know, if they get a lineup, um, they know that they’re pitching, they’re going to discuss the team or the hitters that they’re going to face, uh, and what their tendencies are.
Um, a lot of times they’re going to get that in practice, and then they’re going to get that when we’re on tour, they’ll get that connection. They’ll build that bond.
Jill Jaracz: Interesting. And then, but it’s pretty much one or two catchers too. How many pictures do you end up having on the final team?
Laura Berg: We have two catchers, possibly three.
And so what’s really important when you talk about being able to play multiple, multiple positions in the, on the games, there’s only 15 spots, so it’s really critical to be able to play other people’s. So we’ve got two full-time catchers, but [00:24:00] we’ve got another kid who could possibly catch if we need it, needed her to, okay.
So we’ve got three and then we’ve got four pitchers.
Jill Jaracz: Okay. So yeah, the, the, the catchers have to like build the, all that dynamic with every pitcher
Laura Berg: and each of them are all different and they have their own, all their own things that they, they they’ve got to work with. And so, um, yeah, and, and, you know, some of those pitchers are people who can hit and people who can play other positions.
So like I said, the versatility, uh, of an athlete to teach are
Alison Brown: softball, catchers, as superstitious as baseball catchers,
Laura Berg: they can be yet. They can be, yeah. Even to this day, you know, I’m still superstitious and I don’t even play anymore, you know, but there’s just, yeah, there’s just this thing where some people are overboard and some people.
You’re like, I don’t care. It just depends on the personality. So what’s your [00:25:00] big superstition? Oh, you can’t touch the white line. The chalk line. Don’t touch it. I won’t go in the pitcher circle. Nope. Nope. Don’t do that. Now.
Alison Brown: We know what to do to Laura to make her crazy, just like chalk
Jill Jaracz: circles. Okay. So does anybody prank you with that?
Like yeah, just little chalk outside your bed. That would be the best pet. Like you get up and there’d be a little shop
Laura Berg: around the bed. Yeah. I’m a little bit of a prankster myself. And so they won’t. Yeah, they won’t prank me because they don’t, they, they know it’ll come back twice as bad.
Jill Jaracz: All right. Uh, yeah.
So I have to ask, I brought it up. Yeah, we understand you, you, you pranked president, uh, George W. Bush in Beijing. What, what,
Laura Berg: what happened? So we were at practice and we knew that he was going to come out and talk to the team. And so. In the middle of, of warming up. And when we were in Beijing, it was super hot and humid there.
And [00:26:00] so you just, you get out there, you start warming up and you’re sweating. So, um, we see this entourage of vehicles pull up. We’re like, okay, you know, he’s, he’s coming. And so we stopped practice. We get together in a circle and he’s there and he starts to go around the circle and shake everybody’s hand.
Well, I had told one of my teammates, oh my gosh, I’m going to put a chalk hand print on his back. And she was like, no, no, no, no, no, you won’t do it. And I’m like, okay. And I’m thinking, how often am I going to get this close to a president to be able to prank them? So I’m like, I’m game, I’m doing it. So as he was going around shaking everybody’s hand, I went to the chalk line and got some on my hand, it came my turn.
I shook his hand and I brought him in and I patted him right on the back and with how hot and humid it was, he, you know, had a sweat on his back. And so like, Piece of chalk on my hand, stuck to his, the back of his shirt. And so, and he had no idea. It was great. Everybody laughed. And he had a great sense of humor about it when [00:27:00] my teammate told him and, uh, took a picture with me.
And so it was pretty fun. He said, look,
Alison Brown: you, this secret service, didn’t have something to say about,
Laura Berg: I know, I know I was waiting to get taken out. Well, here’s the thing is both. My brothers are, uh, police officers. And so if they had any aspirations to become secret service, I think I totally ruined that for them.
Alison Brown: No FBI jobs for the brothers. Nope. So going back to your plan and days you played in 96, the first softball tournament at the Olympics, what was that like? Just being in that inaugural tournament.
Laura Berg: Oh, oh man. Gosh, there’s a lot of, uh, emotions around that. Uh, first time in the Olympics, one, would it be. In Atlanta and beyond our home church, you know, it was a very special, uh, because, you know, they loved us, you know, every time we stepped on the field, they’re chanting USA and being supportive of us and, [00:28:00] you know, you know, wanting us to win.
And, you know, I remember being in the car with my family before the Olympic game, we had a day off and then it became the Olympic game. And in, on that day off, I remember being in the car and some guy got on the radio and dedicated, proud to be an American from Lee Greenwood, uh, on the radio and just, you know, listening to it and chills and being like, all right, let’s do this, let’s play now.
And, you know, having my, my family, my, my parents and my twin sister, there was amazing because, you know, they have been there along the whole journey, you know, ever since we, Randy and I started playing ball. So for them to be able to, to watch us be on the gold medal podium and have that, that metal put around our neck, you know, it was pretty special.
You know, and just thinking back of all the people who kind of paved the way for me that, you know, didn’t, they played and didn’t have the Olympics, they made it possible for us to be able to be there on that, on that podium.
Jill Jaracz: [00:29:00] What was the, like when Tokyo said, yes, we want softball and baseball back in the Olympics.
And then also, how is it knowing that this is going to be the one time for maybe until 20, 28?
Laura Berg: Yeah, I was ecstatic. I remember I was in the weight room, working out when, um, coach Erickson, uh, send me the text and, you know, I was just too static, you know, for these, for these young kids, uh, Valerie areata and Michelle Moultrie who have been a part of the team since 2012 and has been working so, so hard, it’s so long.
Um, uh, and for them to get the news and to hear that, you know, their dreams get to come true, you know, Haley McClenney and D Delaney Spalding to, to be a part of the Olympic games is something that’s special. And the pinnacle of. And then to hear that we got kicked out again, it’s disappointing, you know, cell phone didn’t do anything for us to be able to get kicked out in the first place.
You know, it was a political thing which should never be involved in the Olympics, [00:30:00] you know, and, you know, being a part of four Olympic games, all of them very different in their own. Right. All of them very special in their own. Right. And for these athletes to not be able to experience multiple Olympics like that, uh, it just makes, it makes me sad.
It breaks my heart.
Alison Brown: So you did play in 2008, which at the time you knew softball was getting kicked out. Yes. So,
Laura Berg: and it, it broke my heart because he had Monica Abbott who, you know, had the opportunity to be a multi, uh, Olympic athlete. Katelyn lo Jessica Mendoza. You know, it could have been in the third Olympic games, you know, cat Osterman, you have all these people who get to play it in like multiple, multiple of the games.
And that was ripped away. Although
Jill Jaracz: you got cat Osterman back, which is incredible.
Laura Berg: We do. Yes.
Alison Brown: Yes. I know how low the longevity of the softball players amazes me. So what, what is it about soft ball that keeps people, you know, [00:31:00] continuing a career for, for so long?
Laura Berg: Yeah, it’s, I think it’s, uh, several things. One is their passion, their love for the game, you know, and still wanting to play it.
Um, if you don’t love it, it’s just, why would you put so much time and energy into it to keep playing it? You know, you gotta have that passion and softball is, is, uh, a sport of monop, monotonous, repetition, and, you know, taking care of your body, you gotta, you can’t just like, you know, be out of shape. And then they expect to play, you know, 56 games in a summer, you know, and not have aches and pains and all that.
So you gotta be able to take care of yourself, uh, nutrition, sleep, you know, just things like that, that will help prolong your.
Alison Brown: Yeah. And of course there’s also the copious amounts of cash you get for playing so
Laura Berg: much money in softball. Yeah, yeah. That, yeah. It’s good to have that. Hmm.
Jill Jaracz: Although that’s softball unlimited.
Isn’t that what it’s called? I don’t have my notes here, [00:32:00] but that seems like an interesting development for the sport.
Laura Berg: Yeah. Yeah. I don’t quite know, uh, the things behind the scenes and hadn’t quite how it works, but it was very fun to watch. I’m really glad that we have that as an opportunity or as an option for, for softball players to continue their career after college, because they should be able to do that.
They still love playing it and they’re not ready to stop playing and they should have a place to be able to go play, you know, and you know, you got team USA, you’ve got softball unlimited, you’ve got, uh, the NPS. And so, um, yeah, I think it’s, it’s amazing for these guys to be able to go and continue their.
Jill Jaracz: And, and you know, like a million parks and recreation departments would love to have someone on there. Can you imagine that it’s just like the beard league? Oh yeah. You know, we have an Olympian.
Laura Berg: Oh, well, here’s the funny thing is when I was doing LAPD and my probation, my probation year, my first year, [00:33:00] my training officer walks up to me and says, Hey, uh, you’re playing with a department softball team.
Right. And I was like, uh, he goes, no, really you’re playing. I’m like, okay, I don’t have an option. So yeah. Yeah. I had to play, I had to play slow pitch when I was doing LAPD.
Alison Brown: What was something that really surprised you from going from an Olympic player to an Olympic coach?
Laura Berg: I think the tough thing is sitting back and letting them do it. You can give them all the information, you can prepare them for it. But at the end of the day, they’re the ones who are going to have to do it because they’re the ones with the bat in their hand.
That’s the hard thing is just the patients and letting them do it.
Alison Brown: Okay. Jill, ask the question. You want to ask the question? Laura will accept the question.
Jill Jaracz: What question? Which
Alison Brown: one? Okay. So Jill really wants to know why all softball players have long, straight hair,
Laura Berg: long, straight hair. [00:34:00] I think it’s just easier to keep it off the back of your neck when you sweat.
And so you can have so many options, you can put it up in a bun, you can braid it, you can double braid it. Um, I just think there’s a lot of options with long hair. Then there is with short hair. So it’s all practical
Jill Jaracz: it, well, it does make sense when me put it like. But it is something I did. I did notice that when I looked at the team, like, well, they all have long, straight hair.
Laura Berg: I think some of them may, um, probably straighten it out. Some of them probably have, but, uh, yeah, if there’s just so many options with long hair,
Alison Brown: well, we will see natural curl in Tokyo. Cause there’s no way they’re fighting that
Laura Berg: humidity. No, no, no, not at all. Yeah. Yeah. There’s going to be some phrase going on in Japan.
Alison Brown: So speaking, speaking of that, have you been able to even see the facilities? Did you get there before? COVID
Laura Berg: I’ve seen pictures and [00:35:00] you were there in 2018 and I thought we were playing in the Olympic arena and it just seems like it keeps changing. So, um, I, but I have seen pictures of what it’s going to look like.
So it’s going to be turf. It’s going to be in a baseball. Which we’ve played there a million times. We know what to expect. We’ve done it before because softball plays before baseball. Okay. So they’ll just use the same facility.
Alison Brown: There will be many, we’re expecting many fewer people and certainly there’ll be pretty much no Americans there.
So what, what is, what are you anticipating?
Laura Berg: Well, I’m just a lot, a lot of Japanese fans rooting against us, which we’re used to. Every time we go to Japan, it’s like that Japan is so supportive of their, their bat and ball sports. It is, it’s unbelievable. They appreciate baseball, they appreciate softball and they appreciate good baseball and good softball.
And so they’re going to cheer, you know, [00:36:00] if we make a great play, they’re gonna cheer for it. And I’m sad for the families that don’t get to experience, uh, the Olympic experience watching their daughter play. So that’s unfortunate, but at least, you know, we do get.
Alison Brown: Do you know, if you are the only person who played in every women’s tournament and is now coaching, how many women in the sport have done this
Laura Berg: whole series?
I’m not sure who’s on staff. If anybody is possible doing that, it would be Melanie Roche from Australia. She played in four Olympic games. So the Tonya Harding, but I don’t know if those two are coaching or not.
Alison Brown: Cause that’s amazing. I mean, that’s an accomplishment. But when I was looking at, when we were doing the research, I was like, wait a second.
She was in a good shape in
Laura Berg: every tournament. I was very
Jill Jaracz: blessed. Is there anything else we should know while we’re watching softball? [00:37:00]
Laura Berg: Um, I think I would just say the speed of the game. You know, the speed of the game is so fast. You know, people who watch softball for the first time. They fall in love with it because of how fast it is.
It’s seven innings. Um, you can run in, in softball, you can run rule. So if you get eight or more, uh, in international, I believe it’s seven after five. I can’t remember seven after five, 10 after six, something like, I don’t know something like that, or it could be 10 after five, seven after six. So you can run rule them.
You can end the game early, not go the full 70 innings. Uh, we’re in baseball. You, you go to the full nine innings, no matter the score of the game,
Jill Jaracz: how do pitchers pitch and not blow out their shoulders? What are the mechanics of that
Laura Berg: there’s still wear and tear on a pitcher, you know, with our wrist and their elbow and their shoulder and, you know, the way they land with their, their, their front leg, they’re still wear and [00:38:00] tear.
It’s just not as, quite as, uh, I guess rough. Throwing overhand, you know, it’s a little bit more of a natural motion to, to do the windmill versus throwing overhand. So, so, but again, they’re still wearing her.
Jill Jaracz: Oh yeah. You know what? I have a question. Mechanics of sliding, like when do you start to slide?
That’s
Laura Berg: going to vary for everybody. You know, I think people who are faster to go, you know, uh, may slide a little bit earlier than maybe somebody who’s not quite as fast or, you know, someone who’s smaller, uh, is going to slide at a different time than somebody who’s bigger. Cause they’re going to take a little bit more time to come to a stop.
Those that those, uh, little fast kids, those little slappers can do a pop-up slide where they slide in an, a prop themselves up to get up quickly to, to advance the ball gets bubbled or gets away. So it’ll vary. Some people like to sweat, I didn’t have.
Jill Jaracz: Yeah, I was going to ask it there’s there are people who do people usually do [00:39:00] one version of sliding or do they do different sliding for depends on what’s happening around them.
On the field.
Laura Berg: Yeah, it’s different. You’re going to go feed birth. If you go from, from first base and run all the way to third, technically you’re probably going to slide feet first. If you’re stealing, you’re probably going to go head first to make yourself a smaller target and kind of do a fade away to where it’s going to be harder for them to tag you sliding into home.
Uh, you, you want to go fee first all the time because the catcher is protected with their shin guards and all that. And you don’t want to go fighting head first, uh, into somebody who’s big and protected like that. Cause you can, you can really hurt yourself with your neck and all that. The pop-up
Jill Jaracz: slide. I think slappers can do
Laura Berg: everything to that.
Yes, they’re very mobile. You just
Alison Brown: need to be left-handed and show, Hey, I know
Laura Berg: somebody who’s left-handed and really
Jill Jaracz: short. There you go. I have a new sport Ellison. Get back into softball.
Laura Berg: No
Alison Brown: [00:40:00] hand-eye coordination, but I’m ready.
Laura Berg: Awesome.
Jill Jaracz: Thank you so much, Laura. You can follow Laura at Laura Berg, 44 on Twitter, and she is a Burgee 44 on Insta. We will have links to those in the show.
Alison Brown: So I I’m going to tease her lightning round just because it’s, I think it’s the favorite lightening round we’ve ever done. So when we get to our next lightning round show and we have Laura on, I think that’s my favorite.
Jill Jaracz: It was really fun. She was so much fun to talk to. And just as a straight shooter, I, I so much, I did not know about. I know. And I mentioned
Alison Brown: in the interview, I played it as a kid, like in middle school,
Jill Jaracz: same here. I’d played it in, in junior high, but I didn’t
Alison Brown: know what I was doing.
My batting average was like, 0.0, two, five or something. I mean, it was, I was bad, [00:41:00] which is why I stopped playing in middle school.
Jill Jaracz: But if I had
Alison Brown: only known being short and left-handed was such an asset, maybe I would have tried
Jill Jaracz: a lot harder. Right. You would’ve thought that maybe there was a coach out there that went, we have a slapper.
They had
Alison Brown: no clue. Well, the coaches didn’t know. They were like, you know, someone’s dad, they
Jill Jaracz: do it too.
Alison Brown: They didn’t know anything about softball, either typical female sports in the seventies and eighties,
Jill Jaracz: but I’m now I’m looking forward to seeing some softball and seeing what the teams do. Did you know that you can now text us?
We are at 2 0 8, flame it, and that is 2 0 8 3 5 2 6 3 4 8. Oh, we are looking forward to chatting.
Team Keep the Flame Alive News
Alison Brown: Welcome to list
Jill Jaracz: on now is the time in the show where we check in with our team, keep the flame alive, who are citizens of shook flow. Stan, first off Sarah Hendrickson retired from ski jumping this week. Sad news, [00:42:00] but
Alison Brown: she’s one of, definitely one of the pioneers for ski jumping, especially in north America.
So she’s had quite a career.
Jill Jaracz: Exactly. And I know it’s been frustrating. I, I watched a zoom with her earlier this year, where she was talking about getting equality for women in the sport because they just didn’t have as many opportunities to compete as the men. And didn’t quite seem like there was a whole lot of effort to make it more equal.
So hopefully she’ll stay kind of involved with the store sport and work on that equality
Alison Brown: and diver Laura Wilkinson placed first at the 2021 moose Moss invitation.
Jill Jaracz: Which was very exciting. I did see she posted a photo, not a photo. She posted a video of one of her dives from that on Insta. And she was so happy with how that dive turned out and it does look gorgeous.
So here’s to hope. And the, you know, it’s not that long until the trials are up. And I know I do you feel, I am so [00:43:00] nervous for all of our who are Tokyo hopefuls and haven’t yet qualified. So
Alison Brown: I was taking a walk yesterday and I was sort of going in my head through the list of people who are definitely going to Tokyo and who still, like you were saying, need to qualify.
And I did, I got really nervous all of a sudden, like, oh my God, I’ve got to watch them. I’ve got a plan out, seeing them. So that somehow me watching them is, is from the TV heavily on tape. Delay is going to make a difference
Jill Jaracz: to that. You know what works though? If you wave, while they’re competing on the TV, on tape, it is all
Alison Brown: about waving at your friends and fellowship.
Lasagna’s on the TV. It’s magic. The magic. Wait, maybe we need to say, we need a secret handshake. Oh,
Jill Jaracz: I like it. Or like a secret thing. You know how to like, yeah. Like Carol Burnett would tug her ear at the end of [00:44:00] every show.
Alison Brown: We need a little sign so that I know that they see me waving on the TV.
Jill Jaracz: Yeah. Work on that.
And finally are the dulcet tones of Jason Bryant. We’ll be announcing at the us Olympic trials for wrestling this weekend. So they’re going to be live stream. So there is quite the opportunity to hear him in the background. You know, when you watch the trial. So we’re going to do some of that at home. And speaking of wrestling book club is coming up and we’re reading the wrestling story, Fox catcher, that you can get your copy at bookshop.org/flame alive pod.
We get a commission from books purchased through our link, and that goes toward funding our on the ground coverage at Beijing 2022, which as if, if you lost them to what was it last week show found out that it’s going to be Olympic and Paralympic coverage. So we got a lot of funding to do. Uh, we are constantly adding new titles to our storefront.
So check it out on the regular.[00:45:00]
Atlanta 1996 Olympic History Moment: The first Olympic softball tournament
That sound means it’s time for an Atlanta 1996 story. It is the 25th anniversary of the Atlanta, 1996 Olympics. So every, uh, we are checking in regularly with some of the stories from these games. It’s my turn this week. And you know, I was going to do a softball stuff. ’cause we had softball on and Laura Berg played at the first softball tournament.
And I started going to go down that rabbit hole of links and videos. And then I found the real entrance to the rabbit hole, which is at Columbus state university archives, because they have, is that
Alison Brown: where some of the softball took
Jill Jaracz: place? Yes, that is where the softball tournament did take place in Columbus, Georgia, but the university there does hold the entire archives of the tournament organization.
And so we got a hold on our softball story because they also listed out, they have 16 boxes and [00:46:00] some loose items and stuff. And I have to know what is in box three, folder five called Billy Payne’s breakfast. I would like to know what’s in box six, folder 31 presidential housekeeping services. I need to know what’s in box four, folder 20.
Izzy.
Alison Brown: Oh, no, there’s a whole folder on Izzy. There is to the softball tournament.
Jill Jaracz: Yes. So I’ve been in touch with the archivists we’re working, we’re working on it. I, I don’t know if they know what’s coming their way, but I, I, you know, we’ll, we’ll find something I’m, I’m super excited about that,
Alison Brown: but this is just archives related to the softball tournament.
Jill Jaracz: The softball collection, everything related to the organization of that tournament is held at the Columbus state university archive.
Alison Brown: I don’t, I hope they don’t actually have Billy Payne’s breakfast. Cause that would smell.
Jill Jaracz: Anyway. We had to put a pin [00:47:00] in that until I can, can get with the archivists and learn more about the collection. So I decided that we’d look at the women’s basketball team. This week, and this was a big deal. I forgot how much of a big deal this was for team USA because, uh, basketball had been going on for women since 1976 and the U S uh, and the first tournament the Soviets won gold USA won silver, 1980 Soviets won gold again, 84 and 88 USA one.
And then in 1992, they got the PR, uh, USA got bronze. The unified team got gold. China got silver and getting that bronze medal was actually kind of tough because the U S was playing Cuba and they were tied at the half. It was not a done deal. So they did scrape it out and win that game. The team USA is troubles did not end in 1992 because in 1994, [00:48:00] Brazil won the world cup.
And those two big losses led the USA to form a permanent national team, which they hadn’t done before that. So they put these women together. They started touring in 1995 and went like they traveled like a hundred thousand miles and they played 52 games, one all of them. But the other along with creating a cohesive unit USA, basketball wanted to elevate the popularity and visibility of women’s basketball in the U S because we don’t have professional ball at this point, it’s coming, but there’s no, it colleges it for women basketball and that
Alison Brown: team had some absolute legends on it.
Oh,
Jill Jaracz: it was, they were legendary Sheryl
Alison Brown: Swoopes and Rebecca
Laura Berg: Lobo.
Jill Jaracz: Lisa, Leslie
Alison Brown: Teresa, Edward. That team was not
Jill Jaracz: fooling around. No. And the interesting thing, when I, when I kind of dug into it, is that [00:49:00] when you looked at the statistics that they kept, the USA really didn’t top anything like points scored, scoring, average field goals.
I mean, Teresa Edwards got the most assists in the tournament and, uh, Ruthie Bolton got the most steals, but everything else, it was just, you could see how much of a team effort it was. And a lot of that was due to their coach, Tara Vanderveer, who was the coach at Stanford and USA basketball convinced her to take a year off of Stanford because she couldn’t do both coaching USA, basketball and coaching Stanford at the same time.
So she did, and she guided them to a perfect eight, no gold medal. The team, as we’ve talked before the team got the gold medal, she didn’t coaches don’t get metals when they, when the team wins, but she was named. The first USA basketball Nash, national coach of the year got the U S probably Olympic committee at that point, [00:50:00] national coach of the year.
And the E the squad got the team of the year accolades from both USA basketball and the us Olympic committee. So what she did was really work on building that team effort and the cohesiveness. And I was looking at some interviews that were like looking at 20 years out. And she said, you know, we didn’t have cell phones.
So there was no social media. So people had to talk to each other and that’s what she was really fostering that interaction as a team. And they really became a family. Why, why I wanted to talk about it today was because this week Vanderveer was inducted into the, uh, fib hall of fame. Okay. That
Alison Brown: was why I was okay.
Until you said that, because she also, we had, she’s a legend in. College
Jill Jaracz: basketball. Exactly. Exactly. She’s won a well over a thousand games I believe with [00:51:00] Stanford and is just a phenomenal impact on the sport.
Alison Brown: So, I mean, it almost sounds like the w NBA would not exist without that 96 Olympic team.
Jill Jaracz: No. And, and that, and that’s the case.
And one of the things I had read that was the foundation for the, so the team just streamed to victory, they had huge crowds, they were playing at home. So they had that advantage, but they did also have the pressure of what had happened to them in the years before. And you also have the pressure of playing at home and, and making sure that, uh, you win for the hometown crowd, but they did win every game.
They played, they beat Brazil for the gold medal, one 11 to 87. Uh, Brazil had some phenomenal players at the time, too. Also, also in the tournament, Zaire with a record of like, oh, and seven. Yes. That really surprised me. Oh,
Alison Brown: get, you know, you do the regional qualification.
Jill Jaracz: Yes, exactly. So they did not win any games.
When you looked at the point [00:52:00] statistics, they scored 400 points compared to their opponents, 626. And you look at the U S which scored 819 points compared to their opponents who scored five 90, but one of their players had the highest number of turnovers in the tournament. So they had, you know, it was one of those, like when you looked at the numbers just flat out zero wins, seven losses, like, oh yeah, you got lucky being there, but they did have some talent that could make some plays happen.
So that was interesting. This tournament did launch two pro leagues. One did not last very long, but the w NBA has lasted 20 some years and, uh, has really spawned a whole generation of female basketball players in the states. And they now have a professional. Which they should. They absolutely
Alison Brown: should. And there, I mean, it’s not like the w NBA isn’t making money.
Yeah,
Jill Jaracz: well, they, [00:53:00] they still aren’t. I don’t think comparatively, but I think the, the, the WNB is gaining in popularity because people understand the women’s game a little bit more, and it’s getting a little bit more airplay. Like I know over the past couple of years, one of the major networks has had the WN NBA championships on TV.
And I think that’s helped as well. So hopefully the, the talent that this 1996 team spawned and paid the way for be able to carry out that legacy.
Tokyo 2020 News
Oh right. Tokyo 2020 news. The torch relay is under. So what’s happening. How much of that have you been watching? I, you know, I watched it, it, it started like last Thursday, so I watched Thursday and Friday live streams and it was great and they have detailed schedules online. [00:54:00] So you knew when, because the torch goes and does a little segment in a town and then it will travel to a different town later the day.
So you can see, oh, I can jump the tape forward, like 45 minutes while the film is going to its next destination. Yeah. I
Alison Brown: remember when the torch design was unveiled, we went nuts. I mean, I absolutely fell in love with this torch and just to make it even worse, it’s even more beautiful in
Jill Jaracz: motion. And then when they’ve been, they finally have gotten to some destinations with cherry blossom trees in bloom and you just, it, it gets you,
Alison Brown: it reflects and the color makes it brighter.
It’s this is my favorite torch hands down. This is my favorite torch,
Jill Jaracz: you know, it’s, it’s beautiful and unique and bring to you. Yes. And not what in a non Albertville kind of way
Alison Brown: in a, not like plastic Terino way that it looks like a plastic knife that you get in the [00:55:00] cafeteria.
Jill Jaracz: And that was a weird torch, but you know, in the early torches or just kind of a stick.
Yeah. Kind of, I mean, cause it’s the first one. So you don’t really know what to do in the later torches benefit from the history. But I mean, they really did knock it out of the park with its design. It is just beautiful. Everybody running is so happy. Like there are some people where you’d like me to be out of their houses.
Right. Well, and you, you know, you sit there and you make a backstory. It’s like, oh, this woman who’s yelling. And like everyone knows who she is. And you’re like, oh, she’s the principal of the school kind of, I don’t know the stories behind Sunday. And then they’ve got stories on the website. I just haven’t looked at them yet, but, uh, Some of them who are just overcome with emotion while they run or can’t stop smiling.
It’s so nice to see. And there have been some crowds, I would say in busier cities, there have been some crowds, so hopefully [00:56:00] it’ll be okay COVID wise, but, but they still have, it’s still some kind of ceremony. And I did see the, the, they came down a mountain on skis. The torch did. So haven’t gotten to watch it, the live stream lately, but I’ll probably put it on again, if they’ve got it.
I, you know, but definitely watch some of the highlight videos cause they are very cool. They’re doing a good job with what they have noisemaker wise. Okay. Coke is, is killing it already because you know that they would, they did the torch relay sponsorship when we watched it in 2002. Right. So wherever there’s an opening segment, there seems to be a.
Semi truck. That’s got a little viewing platform on top. And so there are people who get to watch from a little viewing platform as they do the little opening ceremony. And many of those ceremonies have had Tyco drums, which also gets me. [00:57:00] I know how I love the drums. Oh my gosh. They are just great.
Alison Brown: Oh, I mean, I know you can’t have a giant crowd at the opening ceremony, but even if we could just have, you know, 10 drummers in unison, I’ll take that field as big.
Jill Jaracz: You can space out a lot of drummers.
Alison Brown: I mean, we can’t do the Beijing a thousand drummers, but
Jill Jaracz: right. You can have some man. I know that. So that has been fantastic. I have seen Coke scarfs, like little winter scarfs that have the torch relay design on them. I have seen Coke pins, one pin for each day of the torch relay and what prefecture it’s in fairness.
Very very cool. Um, there have been little noise maker type thing that it’s like a red rectangular box. That’s got like the string with a little balls on the end of them. So you whip it back and forth. And it’s like a little drum thing. So there is that, and I’ve seen lots of different kinds of flags and fans, and you’re like, oh, [00:58:00] it’s exciting.
Alison Brown: Coke is doing what it can with what it has
Jill Jaracz: right.
Alison Brown: On the one hand, obviously COVID is horrible and, and not being able to travel to Tokyo is horrible. Yeah. It’s forcing these innovations in how we’re promoting things and doing things and, and bringing people in to the event.
Jill Jaracz: So hopefully this keeps up and hopefully it helps.
Get some excitement or more excitement and confidence around the games happening. We shall see because the IOC executive board announced that they’ve canceled or reduced their guest program. And that means the number of people that come to the Olympics on behalf of the IOC, uh, they have canceled invitations to Olympic athlete, legends they’ve canceled other programs, they’ve canceled people having guests.
So we T we talked about the other [00:59:00] week, like maybe the IOC members wouldn’t get to go, they’ll get to go. But their families can’t
Alison Brown: no plus one at this wedding. No. Or plus
Jill Jaracz: three, four, if you brought your whole fright. So that’s all very interesting. So that really cuts down on. And when we say really cuts down, they’re still looking at like 30,000 people or more coming in.
To the country, eh, you know, athletes and coaches and staffs, and then people affiliated with the IOC and marketing partners. So
Alison Brown: was the original numbers. They were talking about like a million people coming into the city. Right. Right. So if we’re talking about comparison, it’s a blip as to what they were talking about before, you know, pre COVID.
Jill Jaracz: Exactly. And they, uh, Tokyo 2020 has released playbooks for the Olympic family and marketing partners. And so the big takeaways out of this were no access to the village, unless you have an operational. [01:00:00] Which is interesting. They have to use a pre-booking app to reserve seats in the stands and lounge areas at venues that are special for the Olympic and Paralympic family.
They’re going to have, uh, specific rules for the ceremonies, which are to be determined, but there will be rules. If you’re using a driver, the driver has to wear a mask. The vehicle has to be aired and disinfected, and there must be a partition screen between you and the driver, which I thought was very interesting.
Alison Brown: I wonder who they’re trying to protect their for the driver.
Jill Jaracz: They are asked to avoid crowds. They’re asked not to talk in elevators, which instantly made me think of a woman we used to work with. And she was in one of the German offices. And I distinctly remember her saying how, how rude it was when people did not say hello and goodbye when they got on and off.
Because that’s part of their culture. So if you can’t talk in an elevator, yeah, yeah. You’re suppose you were supposed [01:01:00] to like walk into an elevator, you walk into a store and say, hello automatically and goodbye. Even if you never got any help, but that was politeness. And so I thought it was interesting that they pointed out don’t talk in the elevator, please avoid unnecessary forms of physical contact, like hugs and handshakes.
You must only leave your accommodation to go to venues, Olympic club and Paralympic hospitality centers. And that depends on your accreditation entitlements, whether you’re allowed to go and there’s going to be a list of destinations and movement coming out, that will also list where they’re allowed to go.
And so, and again, don’t go to tourist areas, shops, restaurant, bars, gyms, no public transportation. And if there are repeated or serious failures to comply, they might lose their accreditation. Which sent to the principal’s office. Right. So we’ll see there’s more to come on on their playbooks as well. But it’s very interesting how they’re trying to make accommodations for [01:02:00] sponsors and the Olympic family to come in yet, try to keep everyone safe as well.
Alison Brown: And it will be really interesting because certainly the IOC members and you would expect the sponsors are not used to being told. No. Right. So if there is, you know, there’s, they’re threatening, we’ll kick you out. I’d like to see it happen. And just the up that, that would, you know, how, how is the IOC really going to put its money where its mouth is right.
When you’re dealing with people who generally don’t get told? No. And will that affect their cult? The IOC is culture in any kind of broader
Jill Jaracz: way. That will be very interesting. The authorized ticket resellers have started coming out with how they are going to refund tickets for the overseas guests and or not refund.
Right? So [01:03:00] coast sport has said that in coast sports, the one that is the U S Tigga handler, but they also do, uh, several other countries as well. But, uh, they’ve said that they will be refunding basically 80%. They’re taking a 20% cut for a handling fee out of all the tickets you bought. And this is really frustrating.
We got a, uh, an email. If you, if you were a ticket holder, you got an email that said, basically you have until April 9th, To fill out the form to request your refund. Uh, we have to have it done really quickly and oh, by the way, you have to check this box that says you will not hold us liable for anything.
And we’re taking this 20%
Alison Brown: and you may have to rush to get it done for April 9th, but we’re not sending you your money until at least the third quarter of 2020.
Jill Jaracz: Right? Because I think the part of that deal [01:04:00] is that Tokyo’s not going to deal with the organizing committee has got to get the money back to, to the resellers, the ticket resellers, and then the resellers can get it back to us.
That said three quarters is a long time to wait. And when a lot of people are going to be out a lot of money, I don’t know. It’ll be interesting if you’ve got tickets, let us know what you think, what you plan on doing. I’ve seen some stuff on Reddit where people have said that. Fill out that form. We might be looking at some trying to do some credit card chargebacks, just to see if that works.
The hard thing about that is that the charge happened so long ago, the initial charge. So will they, what will a credit card company do? So, uh, I don’t know.
Alison Brown: I mean, I, I can’t imagine litigation is not
Jill Jaracz: on the way. Oh, I’m sure. I’m sure. So that will be something to keep your, keep an eye on, not thrilled about that.
And it’s not a fun, not a fun task for anybody, [01:05:00] but it’s really not great when you make a whole swap, make your entire customer base angry with what you’re doing. And
Alison Brown: is this going to significantly affect tickets going forward?
Jill Jaracz: Right? Because we haven’t heard anything about Beijing and we haven’t. I think Alibaba’s somebody was working on a ticket.
Program or function. And I kind of wondered when I, when I first invite somebody, I think one of the top sponsors is working on that. I want to say Alibaba, but I can’t remember off the top of my head. And when I read what they were doing, I wondered if that was going to change ticketing for the future.
And just, are we
Alison Brown: going to skip over the ATRs
Jill Jaracz: right. Which I bet a lot of people would be happy about if, if there was some simplified ticketing distribution system where the organizing command organizing committee could manage the whole process themselves, that would probably money. Yeah. Right? [01:06:00] Yeah. So that’s something to look out for Australia released its.
Which is very exciting. We always love to see a team uniforms. The kit is yellow and green based, and there are a lot of Aboriginal design elements on it. So it looks very cool. The not so great part about that is that the kit is made by ACX, which used Chinese labor. And, uh, the Australian Olympic committee has been under criticism about that, that
Alison Brown: made in a sweatshop.
That’s a problem. I mean, how do they not know this at this point? I’m sorry. Team USA has gotten slammed for this as well. So I’m certainly not going after the Australians come on. You should know better. This is not a mistake you should still be making at this point.
Jill Jaracz: Right? And, and, uh, Ian Chester, men, Australia, chef Michigan, and the vice-president of the Australian [01:07:00] Olympic committee said that they had gotten assurances from Asics that the materials were, and the cotton used for that did not come from that region of China, which, uh, was reported by the, uh, agency France press.
And then of course the, he responded and followed up with quote, I think athletes at the moment need to focus on what their job is, which is to get out there and compete for Australia.
Alison Brown: Well, yeah, so I don’t want to talk about this
Jill Jaracz: anymore, right? So being
Laura Berg: stupid.
Alison Brown: Seriously, this makes me so mad because it’s so sloppy.
You’ve got other places to make clothes. Obviously making clothes is one of those things that always get shipped off to the cheapest country. But come on, you are the national Olympic committee pay better attention to this.
Jill Jaracz: You would think that there would be some way for, I mean like you have to think about how about we make this in our own country, no matter what it is.[01:08:00]
And
Alison Brown: they’re always passing, you know, the Olympic committees pass off the blame to whoever is sponsoring the uniforms. Oh, it was their responsibility. Oh. And then the manufacturer says, oh, we have this third party who does know somebody needs to say, this is not okay. We can’t keep doing this and, and making money off the backs of slave labor.
And we’re not going to have a national uniform that’s made in a sweatshop come
Laura Berg: on.
Jill Jaracz: Oh. And the U S OPC released some guidelines about protests on podiums, which is basically the same thing as, before they are not going to punish it. But this is just, they clarified it for the us trials that are coming up, which is what they have jurisdiction over.
So I guess it was making a big statement about nothing nothing’s changed, but this
Alison Brown: one that’s the first competition that’s come up. That [01:09:00] since they made that statement that they weren’t going to punish people under rule 50. Right. You’re right. So let’s, let’s reiterate and make it clear what we mean by saying we’re not going to punish people.
Yeah. So still don’t know what’s going to happen in Tokyo
Jill Jaracz: about that yet. No, we do not. And it’ll be interesting to see what happens. At the trials, if it’ll be interesting to see if there’s going to be a lot of protests or not many protests, if there are protium protests, are we going to be able to tell what they’re for by the protest?
Alison Brown: Or like Dick pound says, are they protesting floored in the wall? Oh yeah, we
Jill Jaracz: watched, uh, we wanted to a one hour interview with Dick pound and he was talking about protests. And the example he used was let’s protest fluoride in the water, which is the example
Laura Berg: he
Alison Brown: always uses. And Dick pound, I respect you, but you’re an idiot on this.
We know people are not protesting fluoride in the water
Jill Jaracz: any more. Did they ever [01:10:00] protest Florida in the water?
Alison Brown: I mean maybe in Flint, you protest led, that’s killing people in the water. I mean, come on and let’s not treat either the athletes or the viewers, like we’re stupid kids. We know they’re not protesting for it in the order.
We know what these athletes are protesting and stop minimizing it and making it this offhand joke. That’s not cool. I think the shot made me mad
shot has made me mad today. Hating my arm is
Jill Jaracz: making me feisty. I will take feisty. Alison huh?
Milano Cortina 2026 News
We have a logo for Milan Kortina 20, 26. And if you remember, there were two logos to choose from. One was called Futura and I forget what the other one was called. Um, doesn’t matter. Cause it lost that’s [01:11:00] right. So the Futura, which you called it on this one.
Yeah. And my Italian
Alison Brown: ancestors spoke to me. No. And they said Foodora.
Jill Jaracz: But the, the basic just looks in the little video explaining it. It looks like a, a child is tracing the two and the six on a window that’s covered in frost. So you see that element. There’s very uplifting and empowering music and images around it. But my little beef with this is that the two looks like a Z
Alison Brown: to me.
I honestly, I think it looks very Italian design. Okay. And I think you’re being
Jill Jaracz: grumpy. Oh, okay. Uh, the Olympic logo is kind of, uh, snow, silver, gray, look to it. And then the Paralympic logo is like red, black, and green. So that starts red and it kind of fades to [01:12:00] black and goes into green as you’d look down the two in the six who Thora
Laura Berg: and
Alison Brown: Simo.
Jill Jaracz: Do you have any more vocab lessons for today? I’ve
Alison Brown: been doing duo lingo. I’m working on food. Okay. And so we can order food when we
Jill Jaracz: get there. Have you, have you learned a lot on a monsoon? Amanda? I have
Alison Brown: an aunt LaDonna. Love Leo. Oh, why would she be drinking oil? I don’t know. Duolingo helped me out with that.
Jill Jaracz: Well, I think that’ll do it this week. So you can get back to Duolingo and maybe uncover that mystery. Let us know what you thought of coach Laura Berg and softball.
Alison Brown: Email us@flamealivepodatgmail.com or call or text us at two zero eight three five six.
Laura Berg: 6 3,
Alison Brown: 4, 8 that’s we’re flame alive pod on Twitter and Insta and keep the flame alive podcast group on Facebook.[01:13:00]
Jill Jaracz: Next week, we will have Canadian race Walker, Evan Dunphy. So as we go out to music by. Thank you so much for listening and until next time, keep the flame
Alison Brown: alive.[01:14:00]
Laura Berg: I will never let a pitcher know that it hurts.