welcome you back to the Patrick netherton Show right here on 11:30 the tiger 103.3 FM we head to the Pearl shreport hotline and welcome in our featured speaker from the independence B kickoff dinner about about a week ago now uh who gave one of the best speeches we've seen at the event uh she is the preeminent sideline reporter and uh kind of doit all for ESPN Holly row Holly how are you I'm well thank you for having me I'm so sorry I'm a little late I apologize it's look it's it's uh it's not like there's anything going on these days so we we certainly understand being busy speaking of you know it's talking season uh you know we're about to really get into things what are you do doing for talking season you know it's so crazy I I I'm not talking that much right now because I'm right in the middle of my WNBA season so I just finished the WNBA allstar game right where um Allstars played Team USA so I know football stuff is all going on the Big 10 media day ACC media days are going on this week we had SEC last week in Dallas um and that has been talking season but I I tell you I've been super swamped because I'm busy covering Caitlyn Clark right now um after I saw you the very next day I went to SEC media day and then Caitlyn was playing in Dallas and she had 19 assists in the game and broke a new WNBA record for assists not by a rookie by anyone ever so I've been a little hectic but it's been super fun you know it's interesting because as H you know when you're in when you're in football basketball uh typically it's okay the season ends uh you know maybe you're doing baseball softball season ends it in uh kind of you know May June and it's like all right July August uh you at least all of July and then you know some of August you get to have a little time off well you don't get any time off Holly when when do do you do you take do you have a vacation what are you working year round like how do you recharge yourself yeah I do I do work year round but I have little pockets so after the College World Series ends in in June I get a few weeks off um although I did have WNBA this year but you know it's so funny I just feel like that's not even work so I don't count that but then I went to Croatia for a week this year and then I am off right now for the next three weeks because of the Olympic break oh nice but I'm going to go to the Olympics and cheer on Team USA and women's basketball and go to three medal games hopefully if they keep winning so my work is my Play I'm you know it's not work at all I just want to go watch good basketball in the Olympics so I'm going to go to Paris you know you you talked a lot about that and you know our our friend Tim Brando has always said to me you know look the sports is the what we do is the sandbox of life right we're we're out there we're having a a good time we're getting to to enjoy play I mean they're they're playing a game for goodness sakes and and I've I kind of admired the fact that you have kept that uh that mentality throughout your entire career because um you know work is work but if you enjoy what you're doing as they say you know you don't you don't work a day in your life what has that been like to be able to work in a field that you already enjoy so much well I think that's why I work in this field you know it's been a sports have been my passion since I was five years old I was talking to somebody from the fiestable recently and we were talking about BYU playing Arizona state in the estable in 1976 and I was let me see at that time I would have been 10 years old and I can remember the game I remember who the quarterback was for BYU I remember Arizona State kicked their butt he got hurt with collar bullet like think about this I'm a 10-year-old little girl and I can pull up these details of a bowl game in 1976 you know so I don't know it's just been my lifelong passion I love it so much so I I agree with Kim I have never worked a day in my life except for travel sometimes travel gets a little sketchy I came home from the All-Star game on Sunday and I got stuck in the airport for 17 hours you know as part of this whole it debacle that I do feel like I was working Sunday to keep my sanity in the airport yeah it's it the travel is the the worst part and and you know that's kind of what's cool about you know you've covered Caitlyn Clark now for uh for several years and kind of been at been at her her hip uh to to watch the you know just travel alone what she's done in the WNBA and and obviously being as close to Caitlyn as you are I'm I'm kind of curious what your thoughts are on how she has uh sort of upped the level of recognition that the WNBA should have already had but hadn't to the level that she has brought it now yeah I totally agree with you all these eyes should have been on the W for years but I I don't want to be one of those negative people and and act like what have you guys all been doing you should have been watching all along what I want to say is welcome now welcome you are going to see the best basketball in the world the women are incredible um our All-Star game between Team USA and the WNBA Allstars was absolutely electrifying arque agumba scored 34 points in the second half alone so what I like to say to people is maybe you are coming for Caitlyn or Angel Reef but you'll fall in love with everyone else and I a very personal example of this I have a little 10-year-old nephew he hasn't cared one second of his life what I do for a living he doesn't care if I'm on TV it's just been his whole life so that's what his aunt does he went to the all-star game with me this year he had handmade in magic marker a little Caitlyn Clark's Jersey he wanted to meet Caitlyn he was freaking out to meet Caitlyn it has engaged and en raptured little kids and people who had never watched The W before and so I think that's what's really cool is it's opening the doors for this whole new generation of fans and that's wonderful well let me give you a personal story from from my perspective um I take care of my mom who has dementia and I've told this you know everyone that that listens to the show knows this but uh she loves Caitlyn Clark and and it is you know yeah when it's when it's time you know when when we're when the fever on we are locked in and she wants to know what Caitlyn's doing and she can easily identify her on the screen like it's it's remarkable like the the ability for sports to to touch so many people in so many different ways Holly and that's part of the reason you and I are both in this business is the uh that ability to to reach out and touch people is really remarkable yeah it's it's she is just captured people for some reason and you know like I I look at it like why do people love her so much I think she's super approachable um you know I think she's very friendly to her fans but I honestly believe with my whole high heart it's the style of play she passes the ball she is playing at a pace that is break neck speed hitting shots that we didn't see women in college hit before I just think she's really entertaining at the end of the day all is said and done she is just really fun to watch and I think that's what people are finding out absolutely and it doesn't doesn't hurt that uh you know like you said she's doing things that other people haven't done before I like in her honestly honly I think she's Steph Curry right she's she's shooting the ball at places that no one's ever shot it from regularly she's passing the ball Steph's a brilliant passor even though he doesn't do it nearly as much as she does I just love the way that she's revolutionizing it um and and of course obviously folks here in in Louisiana have a little bit more of a personal uh affectation to to Angel ree because you know she led LSU to a national championship with Kim M I I love it to be honest with you Holly and not for nothing just I mean just from a purely selfish standpoint it's good content for for our radio show right like when's the last time in July we were locking in and people were engaged in what was going on with the WNBA here in Louisiana right we don't have a team so I love it you know that that to me is such a big deal to have to be able to have yearr round content yeah I love it and you know we we started with the Bayou Barbie and I remember um oh my gosh we're getting ready to do the national championship game and I walk over and there's a crown sitting on the bench and I put it on my head and I was like you know I think this might be the first game that I've I've covered where one of the players just has her crown on the bench and I have just absolutely fallen in love with Angel Reese because she is so unapologetically confident she knows how beautiful good strong capable smart intelligent she is and she's not afraid to tell you about it and I I really love the way she carries herself but even more so I love the competitor she is you know she has changed how Chicago's playing this year she's the first rookie to ever have a double double points and rebounds in the WNBA All-Star game she played great she looked incredible and I think seeing her up against all these WNBA Allstars in the national team it made me realize she belongs in this league and she is going to be you you mark my words Angel Reese will be on the national team at the next Olympics in four years because she is that good but she is also that determined to Showcase how good she is talking to Holly Row from ESPN joining us on the Pearl Restaurant hotline um Holly you you detailed for us at the the kickoff dinner and like I said in the in the intro it it was one of the best speeches that that talks that we've ever had and we've had some really good ones um I you you detailed kind of your journey you everyone who who W has watched you through the years remembers oh there's Holly you know her head shaved right and then way okay she's going through a cancer battle we maybe didn't know just how serious it was you told us about how your doctor kind of said hey may need to just get your things in order like this looks bad you've come back from that you told us you just had a scan and it was clean I'm curious what difference has that made for how you go about just kind of your your day-to-day life when you have been there and kind of stared at death and it was right there in front of you and you've been able to come back and get a a little bit of a new lease on life yeah I think it totally changes your life and changes your perspective um I felt like this is going to sound so dramatic but it's really true is I felt like while I was dying I was living better than I ever have and and by that I mean you know stuff is happening in your body and you keep getting spreads and you have to have more surgeries and you're going through grueling chemo and and it can be overwhelming and terrifying and so I got got to a place where I would just start um I would take moments every day and have these little Joy breaks and I started keeping a joy journal and every single day something that made me so joyful I would write it down in my joy journal and I'll go back and look at that sometimes and I just think of oh that made me so happy because I think what we do is we all get so busy about accomplishing tasks every day and what am I doing and did I get this done and and we stress out about all these things that don't really matter in life instead of spending more time on the things that make you feel alive and make you feel joyful every single day and so I feel like um you know I had a period there where I couldn't control what was happening to my body and it was terrifying and so the only thing I could focus on was did I have a kick-ass day today like did I absolutely live life to the fullest you know we all have those bucket list things and I just started doing stuff on my bucket list I would travel I um started taking piano lessons I I went got into a little band and we put on a Christmas concert where I played the keyboards and like I just started Living this bigger bigger life because those were the days that I was promised and I think um you know in some ways I don't want to be sick again because I'm really grateful I got on something called immunotherapy that has saved my life the uh V Foundation helped me get into a clinical trial that has saved my life um but I want to get back to still having joyful moments every day and making sure that I am living my day to day the best possible way I can because it's the only day I'm promised you know it's it's interesting as well because you know look I I call games you call games one thing we know is there is a a a tremendous double standard when it comes to appearance on television right the you know the women on television have to look a certain way or be made up a certain way um you know and you you as you lost your hair through chemo you shaved it you went with a wig and then I tell the story about how you finally and and you know who encouraged you to finally just be yourself and the reaction to that when you got on camera with the head shaved for the first time yeah I was on this really heavy duty chemo drug called interferon heavy dose interferon and it was devastating to me and um I would be in the shower and I you know anywhere I touched to shampoo the hair would just come out in my hands and handfuls and every day it was just coming out in bigger and bigger chunks and and I you know I would be crying like oh my gosh what is happening to me and my Mom finally said honey just shave just shave it off so you're not dying a small death every day with this hair falling out in your hands every day you know so we did and I got a wig and I got some cute scarfs and things um but but when you've lost your hair in cancer treatments and I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that can relate to this uh you look thck on the outside kind of for the first time you know when you're battling this and you haven't lost your hair you kind of look normal and people don't understand how sick you are and so it puts you into this really vulnerable state of oh my gosh now people can see that I really am sick um and you know being a bald woman you I think I looked okay but you know it's probably not the cutest I've ever looked in my life and so I was trying to wear this heavy um hot scratchy wig and I went to practice um at the LA Sparks one day and cand Parker the great player from Tennessee and NECA OU from Stanford they were playing for the Sparks and they said oh you look so cute stop wearing your wig you look fine your face is so pretty and they just like were my hype women and hyped me up and that day happened to be the pink game for the LA Sparks to bring attention to women with breast cancer and I thought you know what I'm going to be brave today because those women believe in me and they're telling me I look cute so maybe I do so I went on TV that day with my with my wig off and you know you could see my bald head and my little you know stubbly hair that was just starting to come back in and it was scary and it was hard to be vulnerable but those women had my back and and hyped me up and uh from that point forward everybody was really sweet about it you know Nick Sabin was really sweet we belman his wife were very sweet to me about it you know I had lots of coaches that just kind of loved up on me in those moments and made me feel comfortable isn't it amazing how you know our own insecurities are are are so strong at times and we don't realize that everyone else just wants us to be happy and and wants to like that's the thing I take from from what you said is you know look we we all have those issues right some days you wake up you're like man my eyes are puffy I'm just not looking good but but the people around you understand those things people everyone else goes through the same things that you go through and and have had you know you know people that have had those kind of issues and so they're wanting to to you know love up on you and and help you out and help you through it I I just love that story Holly I think that's that's a great Testament to what humanity is and what it should is really supposed to be in life right like I I just love that yeah yeah like less judging more loving you know I think that would be a good lesson for all of us um because we we never know what people are going through on the outside and and you might look at someone and think oh why is their hair this way or why are they dressed this way or whatever and you might not know I they you know for for me like some days I was just fighting to get out of bed I was in so much pain and and my body hurt so bad um some days I was just trying to get up and get moving let alone try try to look cute you know so like I think it's just really important that we are more loving to each other and supporting each other because everybody's going through something yeah everyone's going through something you may not know um all right let's let's end on a on a on a fun note looking forward um obviously we're we're about to get into the 12 team playoff era in college football I know uh you told us what you're you've got an assignment early on I don't know how much you can reveal about what you what your schedule looks like yet but what are you excited for in this upcoming college football season yeah I think I'm allowed to say it now because um I saw someone print it so uh we're doing our first game is going to be Notre Dame at Texas A&M which is a monster game um you know Notre Dame is is coming off a successful season but they added uh really good quarterback who's from down in your area um in Mobile Alabama and uh I think he's from Fair Hope Alabama actually which is kind of across the bridge from mobile so not too far from you folks in Louisiana but anyway he uh Riley Leonard was terrific for Duke last year and he has transferred into Notre Dame so I think Notre Dame is going to kind of immediately hit the ground running and be a very good football team and then we get the LSU Tigers versus USB there you go um which I think it's going to be really interesting it's in Vegas I think that is a really Monster game because LSU I mean you think about these are two Heisman winners um that they lost Caleb Williams from two years ago and Jaden Daniels from this year at quarterback so which team is going to fill that role better quicker and kind of hit the ground running I think are two really important questions for LSU and USC and by the way correct me if I'm wrong Riley Leonard played for Mike Elco right at Duke and so yeah so even a better story line story line they're close yeah exactly good good pick up by you um so Mike Elco took the Texas A&M job after Jimbo Fischer was let go he had a great year at Duke last year we did I want to say we did two or three duke games they were six and0 or seven and0 at one point last season before Riley Leonard got got this ankle injury but um I think that game is going to be really good and it really immediately launches someone into the playoff conversation right out of the gates week I I need you to work in that the allegiance stadium in Vegas looks like a giant Roomba like can you please work that in somewhere into the broadcast like it looks like funny you know when you drive by it in person it really doesn't it's cool have you been out there I've I've been by it I haven't been in it uh I've driven by it and yes down ground level it's it's impressive but when you see it on from from above the Drone shots like that's just a Roomba it's like just sucking up sand it is one of the most beautiful stadiums I've ever worked in and they have this really cool system where they just can kind of um they have these big trays of turf and so the turf just kind of rolls out of the loading dock and then they can roll in another Turf for college football or bowl season and um so it's really cool Mark Davis did a great job on that Stadium uh it's really one of The Cutting Edge St excuse me in the country and I like working there because you can kind of walk from the strip walk over the bridge and and get there very easily so fans are going to we have a black yeah and it's indoors in Vegas in August September which is is the most important um Holly absolutely wonderful of you to take some time and join us today we really appreciate it thank you for coming down and speaking to us at the uh the Indie bold kickoff dinner uh like I said it was one of the best speeches we've ever had uh it was it was awesome to hear your story and obviously best of luck look moving forward and we'll we'll be catching you on on at least from the Roomba on USC and and LSU in Vegas absolutely pleasure I absolutely loved my time in treport what wonderful people the independent full folks were so incredible uh the radiance technology folks were so nice to me so I I loved my experience and I I'm grateful I got to meet did you did you get uh did did they give you a gift like a you know an art a a grenade or you know like a shoulder fire missile or something like did you at least get a good Radiance technology gift on the way out I know I don't know what their gift bag would be but um but let's work on that let's brainstorm and see what could be portable that they make that we could actually use it's all defense technology so I'm assuming some like laser guided Sam missiles or something are in the offing well just just get us your address and we'll send you something I think it grown yeah exactly like just a nice a nice uh a nice drone to run around and and smite your enemies if you need to I love it you know go I love it Holly thank you so much we appreciate it thank you byee all right there was Holly roow from ESPN