February 22, 2021 - Kavitha Davidson and Jessica Luther

The Late Night Happy Hour with Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

It's not always easy to be a sports fan today, especially if you're a member of a community that hasn't traditionally been valued by the sports establishment - think women and LGBTQ people, for example - or simply enthusiastic fans whose team loyalties are exploited by greedy/apathetic/lousy team owners or large entities like the IOC and FIFA that suck cash out of communities in exchange for hosing mega-events.

So what do fans do about it? How do they hold their teams, leagues and athletes responsible without walking away? What can sports do to improve from within? Complicated questions for people who love sports, and in their new book "Loving Sports When They Don't Love You Back," Kavitha Davidson and Jessica Luther explore these and more.

After a quick update on Monday's fatigue-fueled loss to Washington for the Lakers, we dive into the interview. Who traditionally hasn't been "loved back" by sports? Who has, and how interested are they in being loved in a different way?

Why are sports a place where fans are so willing to compartmentalize? What is it about sports loyalties that makes it hard to draw hard lines in the sand for people (even those in the groups sports tends to ignore -- Davidson and Luther, for example, are both massive sports fans)?

How should people talk about trans athletes? Is there really a "problem" with trans women competing and hurting women's sports? Why are sports so often used as proxies for larger cultural battles?

Why are Luther and Davidson ultimately optimistic?

Finally, we close with a conversation about Ted Lasso, one of the great shows about the spirit of sports ever made.