Show Me Something - Sophie Cunningham's EXPECTATIONS for Indiana Fever's WNBA season with Caitlin Clark

Episode 39 kicks off with the most universal small talk ever: the weather, because everyone feels it, it always changes, and it’s an easy way in.

I fall into it too, whether I’m in an Uber or calling home, because it’s the one thing we’re all living through right now.

As a parent at kids’ events, weather is the go-to icebreaker every time.

Home opener is days away; do you still get nerves or is it all excitement?

I always get jitters because it means I care, and after a defense-heavy practice that had us sprinting and shuffling, I’m tired but feeling our team start to click.

Walk us through leaving Phoenix for Indiana; being traded can be both a blessing and a gut-punch.

I could have stayed comfortable, but growth needed a move, and while I cried the next day from the shock, the Midwest fit my game and life, and I even got to stare down a few folks after a big game back there and let them know how I felt.

Dallas looks sharp and Ezi’s already talking about physicality and fouls; where do you land on officiating right now?

Last year felt all over the place, but refs owned it in our meetings, so expect tighter whistles early and then a natural loosen as we all adjust, which is why we practice with refs and emphasize knowing the standard.

Could you read a game in ten minutes last year or did the tone change too much?

It swung inside games and from night to night, which was the real frustration.

W flopping versus NBA drama and the internet roasting SGA; your take?

We do not have a flopping issue, and SGA is brilliant, though baiting contact is part of hoops and a few whistles get wild.

NBA and the W are loud about officiating, while NFL players rarely have those postgame mics, and football has so many variables it is harder to point at one thing.

Football is built on heavy contact and baseball is less body-to-body, so basketball’s constant touch calls put refs in the spotlight more.

Baseball’s new strike challenges are genius: players get two, keep them if correct, and reviews take seconds so only big moments get fixed.

Quick reviews matter, because slow motion can exaggerate tiny contact that never changed a shot, and refs already have a brutal job at full speed.

Goals time—Fever first, then you.

Team-wise, we want to be the best defensive group through communication, schemes, and trust; personally, I live on daily habits over stat targets so I can control health, conditioning, and reps.

Attitude and effort are the only things you can truly control, and chasing numbers can even fight against the right team play late in games.

Exactly, purpose over proving.

Conditioning pecking order—where do you sit, and who leads the sprints?

I’m high-middle, Kelsey Mitchell and Reagan Johnson blaze the lines, and rookies push hard because a miss means we all run again under our head coach’s whistle.

Do players with fewer minutes get extra work after games?

Yes, our strength staff handles it, and as pros we want that so we stay game ready.

Summer House scuffle talk: sometimes guys scrap, dap, and it’s over, which is dumb but feels like ancient wiring.

We grew up with rules like protect the head and no cheap shots, and if you must, finish clean and move on.

Animals do it too—rams collide for status, which is primal and ridiculous in a bar but it is the same script.

Hippos brawling are terrifying and weirdly funny, whales fascinate me, and the older I get the more the ocean’s depth spooks me.

With most of the ocean still unexplored, do aliens live down there or arrive from it?

I joke the megalodon might be real, and the deep crushes subs so it feels like a frontier we barely understand.

Breath holding humbles me, so I tape my mouth at night to train nasal breathing.

Breath work resets your system and helps everything, so yeah, practice it.

Breathwork can reset your nerves, so check those out, and Kev, what’s happening in the world?

Headline time: Deloitte asked Gen Z which era they’d live in, with many choosing now, plenty eyeing the past, and some betting on the future; which period would you thrive in?

The present isn’t my favorite, but going back more than fifty years sounds rough given how recently basic rights were fought for, so I’m choosing fifty years ahead despite climate fears.

I keep asking why anyone would pick a time with fewer freedoms.

I’m picturing flying cars by then and real answers about the ocean.

Or the planet’s both burning and flooded, and for the record, Kevin wants the Dark Ages.

I’d look awful in armor, but my weak sense of smell might finally help in those centuries.

Can we also pick our location and status, like castle life in Scotland?

Give me the nineties—simple life, just enough tech, and people were actually present, not turning every youth game into a filmed spectacle—and I also love the fantasy of castles, horses, and land from way back.

Most folks were peasants and that life was brutal.

Then I’m a queen, and if dragons are on the table, I’m taking them.

Quick culture bit: the heart sign is a finger pinch now thanks to K‑pop, and Travis Kelce even tossed a heart after a playoff score.

Present-day headline: Kansas City approved twenty‑three hours of alcohol sales for the World Cup, with England, Argentina, Algeria, and the Netherlands visiting; any local tips for travelers?

Which hour is closed, and are high hotel prices behind the soft bookings people are posting about?

Serving runs six in the morning to five the next morning, so that last hour is the pause, which is plenty after a long night.

Matches are on North American time this time, so no three a.m. viewings.

The Dutch can keep up, and they’ll love Midwestern kindness in Kansas City.

There’s a strong supporter scene at the Power and Light district, and if it goes round the clock, that place will be wild in the best way.

If you’re visiting, Power and Light is the move with tons of bars and constant game coverage.

Sporadic in the best way—tight hoops talk, deep ocean tangents, and plenty of detail.

Love you all, admire the new nails from afar, and keep the Royals rolling—they’ve taken nine of eleven; we’re both in blue, and we’ll see you next time.