- 6 minutes ago
Willard and Dibs take calls from Valkyries fans to discuss how they're feeling after the Valkyries won the championship just two years into the organization's existence.
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00:00To me, like, we could X and O this thing, but when you win a championship, I'm kind of like,
00:05whatever.
00:05Like, Gabby was awesome, but, like, this now becomes about you, the fans.
00:10What was your experience? How did this hit you?
00:12This is different than other championships.
00:14This team's only been here for a year and a half.
00:17This is not, you know, I've done shows the day after championships before,
00:22and it's not usually like, you know, the calls are all like,
00:26so I used to watch with my parents in 19, and I've been doing this for 48 years,
00:32and now we finally won.
00:33That's not what this is.
00:35I don't expect anyone to call today and be like, I've been watching this team since 2025,
00:40and, like, I always dreamed that maybe this day would get here.
00:43This is different.
00:45So how did it hit you?
00:47And then, again, a very special invite to those of you who maybe you don't call radio shows.
00:53You know what I mean?
00:54It's a different fan base.
00:55Completely, and I was gauging it by, you know, the way my experience was,
01:00which was Halloween, house party, rager.
01:03My four-year-old daughter got in her first ever Uber because we as parents were both like,
01:08you know what, we're going to Uber home as opposed to roll some stupid dice over some tipsy driving.
01:14We're not doing that with our four-year-old, so she took an Uber, which was kind of cool,
01:18and we watched the first half at this house, and then the third quarter we were trick-or-treating,
01:23so, you know, as parents, like, you let the kids go to the door, and you're standing on the sidewalk,
01:27and there's a group of us, and red solo cups everywhere, and every house.
01:31I was going to say, drinking.
01:32Heavy.
01:33And so every house, I would look in the window, and, like, four out of every five, you could see
01:38a TV,
01:39and the game's on.
01:40Yep.
01:40And I'm watching the third quarter on my phone because, you know, I wanted to be watching it,
01:44but you have to be with your daughter, and you're trying to be present, quote-unquote,
01:47but I was really struck by the amount of people that were actually watching it,
01:52and, you know, households with men and women and whatever, like,
01:56you have all these kids going to their house for trick-or-treating,
01:59and this is one of those neighborhoods where it's, like, the neighborhood,
02:01and so the streets are blocked off, and, like, the police and the fire truck is there,
02:06and, like, the entire community is on this one street, but every single house, spare a couple,
02:12they had the game on.
02:13Yep.
02:14I, like, again, where my mind goes when you say that is,
02:18now that we know the Valkyries have won, thank God that Thursday thing didn't happen.
02:22Thank God.
02:23Because they got the night to themselves, and it was an actual night,
02:27which is what championships are supposed to be.
02:29You win championships at night.
02:31You don't win championships while people are in line at the sandwich shop.
02:36And so, and it's Halloween, which, yes, it's a going-out night,
02:41but for a lot of people, it's also a stay-in night.
02:44Right.
02:44You know, depending on the hours of it all, because you need to be there
02:47handing out candy and whatever, and I don't think there was anything else
02:51all that interesting in the world of sports that was on at that hour.
02:55It's a Saturday, so maybe this is nighttime college football or whatever,
02:59but, you know, there was obviously no Warrior game.
03:02Chase Center was filled with this, and no Niner game,
03:05and so, yeah, I thought as far as the Bay was concerned,
03:08they were able to run the night, and then just a great game.
03:12So they lived up to all of it.
03:15Let's go to Walk Her is how this is being written here.
03:20Walk Her, thanks for calling.
03:22What's up?
03:24What's going on, guys?
03:25First-time caller.
03:26Thanks for taking my call.
03:28First-time caller.
03:28I'm not a radio caller.
03:31You won now.
03:32But my Valkyries won.
03:33Shout-out to Sports Babe, who told me they're talking about your Valkyries.
03:38Say less.
03:38I'm calling in.
03:39Let's go.
03:40Let's go.
03:41So, listen.
03:43Let's go, baby.
03:44So, listen.
03:45I was at the game, as I was for every game.
03:48I'm a season ticket holder.
03:50I was there from day one, and I was at the last game.
03:54Oh, my God.
03:56That game was exciting, to say the least.
04:01But we were worried in the third and fourth quarter.
04:03We were a little worried.
04:04Yep.
04:06But nothing else can compare to that game.
04:11Me being a sports fan, I'm a Warrior fan.
04:14I'm all the sports.
04:16I do it all.
04:18But this right here is the number one team, now champions, of the world, thanks to all
04:27of the team members.
04:29Gabby, of course.
04:31But I got to give a shout-out to my girl, Charles, because I wear her jersey.
04:34That's my number one go-to.
04:37But, hey, all the Valkyrie women, we love them.
04:40I had a great time.
04:42Great season.
04:43Let me tell you one quick story.
04:44Please.
04:45I bought my season ticket with in mind that they would win in five years, just like they
04:52gave Natalie to do it.
04:54We won in two.
04:55I'm a season ticket for life now.
04:58Season ticket holder for life.
05:00I can't go back.
05:01What can I do?
05:02I got to keep going now.
05:03We won.
05:04Walk out.
05:04I was giving it five years, though.
05:06Can you tell, for people who haven't been to a game, because it sounds like you're a
05:11fan of other teams in the Bay as well, how would you describe that experience on Saturday
05:18night?
05:18Maybe how it differs from other games you've been to in the past.
05:23Oh, my God.
05:24I'm excited every game.
05:26This game was over the top.
05:27I didn't sleep.
05:28I felt like I was playing the game.
05:30I think this game was just so exciting until, I mean, everybody you saw, you walked into,
05:37you talked to, going to the game on BART.
05:40It was just, everything was just exciting everywhere you were.
05:45It was a great game.
05:47I had a great time.
05:48I sit next to the, I sit next to the visitors bench, and I cackle and cackle with them all
05:56the time.
05:57Oh, hey.
05:58I'm not disrespected.
06:01But I got a chance to tell Reese to stop crying.
06:04Sit down.
06:05Yeah.
06:05We're getting ready to win this game.
06:07Yeah.
06:07Let's go.
06:08Yeah.
06:09I mean.
06:10Cackle and cackle.
06:11I love this.
06:13That's right.
06:13Thank you for calling.
06:15Walker.
06:15Make yourself a radio caller again in the future, okay?
06:19I will do that.
06:20Yes.
06:21You guys keep pushing the Valkyries, and I'll call in.
06:23I promise you.
06:24Okay.
06:25Walker, thank you very much.
06:26Yeah.
06:27Hey, let's take 30 seconds on Angel Reese.
06:31Listen, we would be hypocritical to say we don't like trash talk.
06:35Jaxo Lindenborg plays for our team.
06:37It took him one game to completely obliterate Luka Doncic both on a court and off, and in
06:45ways that I think we're still kind of unpacking.
06:47And he was in the house for game seven.
06:49Yes, he was.
06:50As were basically all the Warriors.
06:51Yeah, except I guess, like, Steph wasn't there, though, right?
06:53But he's screaming.
06:55Did you see his IG?
06:56Yes.
06:56Oh, my gosh.
06:57He was absolutely.
06:59That was cool.
07:00He was so excited.
07:01But they had big Halloween plans.
07:03I don't know if you saw their Halloween photo shoot.
07:0547 kids over there.
07:06Of course you can't go to the game on Halloween.
07:08Yeah, just the photo shoot, like, such a flex with the circular driveway and, like, the view
07:12of whatever mountain range.
07:14It's like, yeah, you have a decent little spot there, Steph.
07:16But Angel has the ability, like many really, you know, forward athletes, I should say, they
07:26have the ability to get under your skin.
07:28Draymond is one of these people, too, for example.
07:31But it is now that viral moment, and I don't remember which game it was after, but one
07:37of the wins, I think, earlier in the series, so I want to say game three in Atlanta, where
07:43Angel and a teammate are giving the Valkyrie bench the too small, but they didn't do the
07:49too small like too small used to be, where you, like, you drop your full hand on the ground
07:55as if to say, oh, you're only two feet tall.
07:57Well, she gave the, uh, the...
08:00The one inch, yes.
08:02It was less than an inch.
08:03Right.
08:04They gave the two little fingers together, your thumb and your pointer finger, like, you're
08:08tiny, you're teeny tiny, and they're giving it to the Valkyrie's bench.
08:12It was after game three...
08:13Game three.
08:13...that they won by 26.
08:15Yeah.
08:15It was a complete blowout, and he, she was doing it to the Valkyrie's third string center,
08:20who had come on and basically was getting some mop-up minutes.
08:23So, yeah, Angel Reese, very polarizing, and I do think that she dispelled a lot of the
08:30narrative over her being, you know, the queen of the me-bound, and, you know, she only gets
08:34that many rebounds because she misses, and it's a me-bound like Russell Westbrook.
08:38She had a mostly spectacular series, and then, inexplicably, in game seven on Saturday, she
08:45kind of disappeared offensively.
08:47Um, she did, and by the way, she hit a three early, and I was like, well, we can all
08:53just
08:53go home.
08:54Because she hits a three and they win, is basically what it's always been.
08:57Yep, yep, yep, yep, but not this time.
08:59This is the first time ever that Angel Reese has hit a three-point basket and the Atlanta
09:05Dream have lost the basketball game.
09:09So, um, listen, I, she's a very, very good player.
09:13She's a very good player, um, in the, uh, I'm trying to look at, what is she, what was
09:19her percentage just in the finals, field goal percentage?
09:24Um, you know, because as you said, like the whole me-bound thing and all of that, uh, she
09:30actually was, she shot 43% in this particular game, um, but you go back through it, you know,
09:39she had a, uh, she, when they lost game four, she shot 16% from the field.
09:45When they lost game five, she shot 25% from the field.
09:49Even when they won game six, she shot 27% from the field.
09:54So she's always going to have that in her.
09:56I think not necessarily the most efficient player I've ever seen, but she has an impact.
10:03She has an impact on the game.
10:04And I do, I agree with you.
10:06She has changed the narrative about her, um, she, she's a big part of the reason why
10:11Atlanta went on this run.
10:13No, no, no doubt, no doubt about it.
10:16Yeah.
10:16And if you look at just, uh, like all of the stats from the finals, she wound up, she
10:23was, uh, 34 for 84 from the floor.
10:27So, uh, basically, you know, it's about, uh, 40%, I would say roughly actually it is 40%,
10:3340.5%, but if you look across their team, only Naz Hillman had a higher percentage.
10:40They all shot very poorly as did the Valkyries because the dream and the Valks both very good
10:46defensive teams.
10:47Very good defensive teams.
10:47No doubt.
10:48Hey, Kim in Marin is next.
10:50Hi, Kim.
10:50Thanks for calling in.
10:55Oh, okay.
10:57We'll wait for you guys to get, get ahold of the dog.
11:00Yep.
11:00That's right.
11:01And then you got to come over and get the phone.
11:03Oh, I got, I got my phone.
11:05Okay.
11:05Thank you for being patient.
11:07Of course, Kim.
11:07Of course, Kim.
11:10Long time listener.
11:12First time caller.
11:13Awesome.
11:14I know you were, you guys were asking for women ages 25 to 54.
11:19Yes.
11:20Yes.
11:20So I'm 60, I'm 67.
11:23Close enough.
11:24I got a good story.
11:25Yeah.
11:25We'll count it.
11:26I still got a good story about what I was doing when I was watching the Valkyries.
11:30Okay.
11:31Um, I was born and raised in San Francisco.
11:35I watched the Niners at Keysar with my dad.
11:38We had season tickets, 50 yard line.
11:41That's how old I am.
11:42Um, 50 years ago in 1976, my buddies and I won the San Francisco girls high school basketball
11:49championship.
11:50We played the game at Keysar Pavilion.
11:54Um, when we won that championship girls high school basketball was only in its second year
12:01of existence.
12:02Wow.
12:02So I watched, I watched the Valkyries game, texting my teammates from that championship
12:08team.
12:09And it was just, I mean, I can't tell you how full of pride I am both for the Valkyries,
12:17but also for women's sports to have come so freaking far, just amazing.
12:24It's like just phenomenal to see.
12:27And it, and it happened in my city.
12:30It just, I mean, I'm shaking just talking about it.
12:33Kim is a great point.
12:35It just is.
12:36And I like my wish for this.
12:38And I know it's just not really, I don't know in 2026 and Kim, thank you so much for
12:44calling.
12:44Appreciate it.
12:45We appreciate your patience too.
12:47Um, I, I, I'm not under the impression that these are easy things to, uh, to get across
12:53because people get their, they get their feathers all ruffled about it.
12:56But sometimes I do wish we could talk about these things just kind of as they are.
13:01And I understand, um, from a, whether it's a race, a gender issue, whatnot, I will just
13:07say it this way.
13:08Um, how long has the WNBA been around?
13:11When did it, when, what was its first year?
13:13I think it's been 30 years to 30, maybe 25.
13:16Okay.
13:17So the majority of our, more than half of our life, the WNBA is around.
13:21If you had told me even five years ago that you would have a WNBA franchise, it would
13:29be worth a billion dollars.
13:33And for two consecutive years, it would fill up a full NBA arena.
13:40I always make sure people know this.
13:41I'm like, they're not tarping off the upper deck.
13:44Right.
13:44Yeah.
13:45Okay.
13:45Fill up an NBA arena and sell it out every single night and have passionate fans from,
13:54by the way, a probably broader community than a lot of men's sports.
14:00If you had told me that that was a thing, I, I, I would not have believed you.
14:05I didn't think we would see that in our lifetimes.
14:09And sometimes I think that some people look at things like that and there's a little bit
14:13of a, see, it should have been this way.
14:16And I get that.
14:18I get that there's some feelings around that.
14:20I would rather, and maybe this is privileged, but I'd rather celebrate the fact that it's
14:25happening instead of sort of getting mad that it didn't happen sooner.
14:29Do you know what I mean?
14:31Like, and maybe that's tough for people to hear or whatever, but that's, that's the way
14:35I view it.
14:36I think that's what makes sense for this fan base.
14:38And I think if you look at women's sports in general, and even going down to like high
14:43school sports, you now have flag football for girls in high school.
14:47And it's the fastest growing sport in the entire country.
14:50And you've got women's pro baseball, you've got women's pro softball and pro volleyball
14:55and pro soccer.
14:56You've got so many like professional women's leagues.
15:00So yes, the WNBA 1996.
15:02So it's been 30 years.
15:04It has been 30.
15:04It actually started and expansion is going to continue to happen.
15:08And this league is going to get bigger and bigger.