Hello and welcome to full-time with Megalenehan. This is a show about women's soccer on the Athletic Podcast Network. I'm Meg, your host. I'm a staff writer at The Athletic, covering the NWSL, the U.S. Women's National Team, and more. Before we start the show this week, like everyone else this past weekend, I was extremely extremely sadden to hear the update about Daryl Grove, one of the hosts

of Total Soccer Show and his health. I wanted to start the show by sending all of my good vibes

to Daryl, his family, and to Taylor Rockwell of Total Soccer Show. That is also why I started

the show with Hello and Welcome. I finally had the pleasure of sitting down to record an episode of their podcast back at the end of the Bustle Draft in January, which feels like, I mean three years ago at this point, but I just listened back to the start of that episode with Daryl's intro describing the work and also the reason for my sleep deprivation by the time I did finally

actually sit down at their booth to record. It's sometimes easy as a woman soccer writer to not

feel entirely a part of the American soccer landscape as a whole. Yes, the U.S. Women's National

Team gets plenty of attention every four years, but when it comes time for the smaller stories, or even the big ones, like embedding with a team

for a draft, there is not always a guarantee that American soccer, all caps, trademark, right,

will actually give a shit about your work. Daryl and Taylor have been thoughtful and meaningful

in their women's soccer

coverage, and I always appreciate how they came to the table fully prepared. It's not a given,

but it speaks to the work that they do and have done for years and years. Adam Whitaker Snavelie

wrote this week, and if you didn't read his full thoughts, make the time. I'll have the link

in the description for this episode, but he wrote, it makes complete sense to me why so many people

gravitated towards him, Darrell, and why so many people still do in how they want to help him,

how they want to comfort him, how they want to make him know what he means to them. It's a sign of living well, countless people wanting to help you because you have already

helped them simply in the way that you carry yourself and interact with people.

Not necessarily the praying type of person, but as difficult as this moment is, I think it shows

us the best of what this space can be, a community where we fight for

each other and appreciate each other and support each other with love.

This week will be an episode about women's soccer, but I would also like to take the discussion

I'm about to have on this show one step higher.

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