Welcome back to “I’m Curious!”

Happy October! The United States government is shut down and I hope somebody has woken up Green Day.

Today it’s an all-soccer edition of the newsletter with three stories inside. In addition to a recap of Sunday’s match for the Washington Spirit in DC, you get a look at how the game on the field intersected with protests off it, and what it looks like when footballers tackle a different type of football.

Table of Contents

• The Most Curious Thing This Week: Anna Heilferty and Free DC

• NWSL: Monday Shines on Sunday

• Fantasy Footballers: Soccer Stars Tackle the (Fantasy) Gridiron

• Something Good I Ate: Crab Mac & Cheese Hot Dog

But first, here’s Peach!

The Most Curious Thing This Week

It’s Free DC!

Specifically, it’s the fact that as we near two months from the first news about federal authorities and National Guard troops coming into Washington, DC, soccer is still a space for ongoing protest and advocacy.

It has been true at every Washington Spirit home game since the occupation started, where fans have chanted “Free DC” when the clock hits 51:00 in every home game.

But it has also been true at road games, as fans in San Francisco, Kansas City and Los Angeles have all followed the lead of Spirit fans and chanted “Free DC” in the 51^st minute of games against the DC-based squad.

The story has faded a bit from the headlines but it has not gone away. Troops clearly marked as National Guard stood in full uniform outside Audi Field on Sunday.

In the moment we’re in, sustained attention and pressure are the most powerful tools you have. It’s true in politics, both on the left and on the right, it’s true in the business world, it’s true online and pretty much everywhere.

It also allows for movements to snowball and grow. Ahead of Sunday’s game in Washington, we saw what has largely been a fan movement cross over to players. In this case, even an opposing player.

Ahead of the team’s trip to DC, Houston Dash defender Anna Heilferty became the first pro athlete to express support for the Free DC movement. Heilferty is no stranger to DC or to activism. A native of nearby Falls Church, Virginia, she played four seasons with the Spirit and was a vocal advocate for causes in the community.

In 2022, she became the first-ever ambassador for the DC government’s environmental sustainability initiatives and also did extensive work with the soccer-oriented after-school program DC Scores.

And for two years running, in both 2023 and 2024, Heilferty went beyond simply supporting the Spirit’s pride night events. She dressed up in drag herself to promote the events, developing her own persona and becoming the drag daughter of local queen Shi-Queeta Lee. Loyal readers may remember we chatted with both Heilferty and Lee about that way back in Edition 1 of this here newsletter.

For Heilferty, taking this stand was a no-brainer.

“I think what Free DC is doing and the activations they’ve been doing at the games, it’s something I’ve been aware of,” Heilferty told me in a one-on-one interview after Sunday’s game.

“It’s been really just beautiful in how the crowd has come together. And I think in moments like this, especially everything that’s been going in DC, to have an organization like Free DC that really brings people together in these critical moments, gives them a voice, gives them somewhere to put energy when it may feel hopeless. It’s so important.”

She specifically offered praise for the Free DC Project, a group which predates the recent federal military occupation of the city and has led the way in sustaining opposition to the occupation and support for statehood and self-determination for the District of Columbia.

“I feel really lucky to get to partner with them and kind of uplift what they’re doing for this city,” Heilferty said.

She also touched on something very relevant to a lot of what I’ve written about here and for MSNBC: the power of sports to facilitate moments like this.

“I think sports is a great way to start conversations,” Heilferty said.

“And so, me posting this and sharing this with my team was the start of conversations. And I think, you know, a lot of people reacted in a similar way of wanting to stand up and help.”

And when one member of a community starts a conversation for a cause, it’s easy for it to spread. After the final whistle, Heilferty came over to the Spirit’s supporters section. She and four other Houston Dash teammates—Liz Beardsley, Paige Nielsen, Delanie Sheehan and Yazmeen Ryan—all either donned or held up t-shirts with “Free DC” emblazoned across the front.

Videos show Spirit fans cheering on the Dash players, in a rare case of one team’s diehard fans cheering for a group of players from the opposing team. 

@julie_leo

If you’re wondering why the entire Washington Spirit fanbase cheered for an away team sub in the 87th, it’s not just because @annaheilfert... See more

“I was really lucky to have other teammates beside me out there,” Heilferty said.

After a brief delay due to a postgame celebration honoring the Spirit for clinching a playoff berth, a group of Spirit players also took Free DC shirts. Pictures and fan videos show Spirit players Esme Morgan, Paige Metayer, Kaylie Collins, Rosemonde Kouassi and Andi Sullivan all taking shirts, with a handful putting the shirts on or posing for pictures with them.

@julie_leo

Lest you think the @Washington Spirit players aren’t also here for a #freedc, they came over as soon as they finished taking photos celebr... See more

Suddenly one player taking a stand became ten. At least a few hundred fans hanging around postgame and a whole group of players all shared in a protest action. It wasn’t violent or disruptive but it got people’s attention. And it embedded the Free DC cause even deeper into Spirit fandom. Considering thousands of people come to each game and are deeply attached to the club, that’s a really powerful tool this movement now has.

If we make it out of a very challenging moment for this country, it will be because people stayed united, found joy, focused on what they believed in, stuck to it and used the power that is inherent in that.

With every fan chant of “Free DC,” every player smiling with a t-shirt, the attention stays on a story of injustice. And people can hold onto hope.

My Reporting

NWSL

If you were looking for drama on a packed sports Sunday, you could probably look somewhere other than Washington, DC. The Washington Spirit clinched a playoff berth by cruising to a 4-0 victory against the visiting Houston Dash on the back of a 1^st half hat trick from Spirit striker Gift Monday, who scored the fastest hat trick from the start of a match in NWSL history.

Monday scored three goals in 36 minutes, giving the Spirit a commanding lead to sit on for the remainder of the day.

If you wanted any more tension, the Washington Nationals across the street offered little better, but with a sadder ending. The Nats sealed their 96^th loss of the season, falling 8-0 to the 102-loss Chicago White Sox. 

Sure, there were crazy NFL games (like a 40-40 tie between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers) and last-day playoff stakes in MLB (sorry, Mets), but in DC, there was no drama.

In DC, the sleepy Sunday had advanced directly into Monday.

The Nigerian striker with the memorable name put on a clinic with each of her three goals.

First, she had Dash goalkeeper Abby Smith chase her down the right edge of the six-yard box in the 18^th minute, beating Smith by a step before putting on a bit of a geometry lesson, slotting the ball at nearly a right angle across the front of goal and into the left side of the net, just inside the post.

After the game, she said this is always a celebration she turns to. I asked why and her answer shed light on a much deeper meaning.

“Growing up, I didn’t, like, have people that really believed in my potential,” Monday told me. “So each time I score a goal, I do that because I feel like I see myself more than how people see me. I see myself right there, up in the sky, among the stars.”

Not even four minutes later, in the 21^st minute, a high launch into the box by midfielder Croix Bethune found Monday leaping near the back post to head in her second goal of the day.

This celebration was another lesson: this time in dance.

“I love to dance, so there is always, like, a new step,” Monday joked postgame.

In the 36^th minute, a streaking Trinity Rodman hit a low, line drive cross over the middle that found, guess who? Gift Monday, again. This time, it was a bit of a physics lesson, as Monday deflected a ball with some force still on it, pushing its kinetic energy past Smith again to round out the hat trick.

This time, it was a much simpler celebration: just a quick point to the crowd and a big hug, first from Rodman and then from a mob of teammates.

Over in the supporters’ section, members of the Spirit Squadron waved an array of baseball caps, acknowledging a hat trick that was just the second in club history and the first in a decade.

From there, the Spirit largely coasted, shutting down most big chances for the Dash and quickly correcting errors that could have been much more damaging.

But the fourth goal of the day may have been the single most impressive one. Fresh off her recognition as one of the top 25 players as noted in the 2025 women’s Ballon D’Or voting, Spirit forward Sofia Cantore scored a remarkable backheel goal.

Midfielder Narumi Miura dribbled to the left of the six-yard box, nudging a gentle pass inside the box to Cantore, who, in one fluid motion, hit the ball with the back of her left heel, well to the right of the nearby Smith and into the right side of the goal.

In the press box, there was a bit of astonishment. I can remember asking: “Did she really score that with a backheel?”

The crowd seemed similarly anxious to see the replays. In the stadium, the scoreboard showed three angles, each providing increasingly better views of the shot.

On the first replay, the crowd cheered. 

On the second replay, you could hear a few more gasps.

And on the third replay, which showed the best angle yet of her backheel finish, you could hear most of the stadium inhaling a collective gasp, in awe of a downright absurd finish that served as the cherry on top of a 4-0 win.

The Spirit play a midweek match in Philadelphia on Wednesday against NJ / NY Gotham FC that won’t count for the NWSL standings but is part of the CONCACAF W Champions Cup. They then come back to DC to face the San Diego Wave, in a game that could open the door to the Spirit clinching a home playoff game as soon as next week.

Houston, meanwhile, heads back home to face the defending champion Orlando Pride. The Dash are still just three points below the playoff line, meaning a win and some favorable results elsewhere could put them into a playoff spot.

Other Sports Takes and Things of Note

Fantasy Footballers: While Spirit players played together on the field to square off with a shared opponent, they also were facing off against each other in a completely different kind of football.

It is fantasy football season and the fantasy bug has bitten the other type of footballers, too.

In a bit of a bonding exercise, a group of Spirit players and staff are in year two of a fantasy football league. 14 teams, standard rules, bragging rights for the winner, and a punishment still to be determined for the last place finisher.

Just like many a more traditional job, the Spirit have their share of sports contests, including an annual March Madness pool run by goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury.

But for the Spirit, fantasy football has also become a bit of a United Nations of sorts, with players from countries including the UK, Italy and Japan among the participants.

Along with a few team staff members, at least nine current and former Spirit players are in the league: five Americans—Kaylie Collins, Paige Metayer, Kate Wiesner, Courtney Brown and Makenna Morris, who now plays for Racing Louisville; one Italian player—Sofia Cantore; one Japanese player—midfielder Narumi Miura, one English player—Esme Morgan (team name: Never Have I Trevor), and one French player—Kysha Sylla.

Spirit defender Paige Metayer serves as commissioner of the league (team name: P Money) and noted how cool it is to have such an international mix of players competing.

“It’s great that so many people want to be involved even though it’s not, like, maybe they’re not that into American football. But they just want to be part of, I don’t know, some team bonding,” Metayer said.

It leads to a pretty wide range of knowledge—Americans like Metayer, who as a New England Patriots fan was hyped to have quarterback Drake Maye on her team, are clearly lifelong fans, although English defender and noted Jacksonville Jaguars fan Esme Morgan is particularly enthusiastic about the four Jaguars players on her team.

Morgan all but made it a requirement that she be allowed to draft Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence in order to participate.

“I think she would have killed any of us if we took Trevor Lawrence from her,” Metayer said.

Morgan’s Jaguars fandom has led to her receiving Jaguars jerseys from fans and a special message from quarterback Trevor Lawrence for her part in helping England win the 2025 Women’s Euro tournament.

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“I’m 1-2, so it’s been a mixed bag,” Morgan said. “I have a lot of Jags on the team and I’m not gonna lie, it’s been holding me back a little bit. Brian Thomas Jr., I need him to step up, because he was my first pick that I made.”

(As a fellow Brian Thomas Jr. owner, I co-sign the thought.) 

“I think I’ve got four of them on my roster. They all started this week and I won, so I’m riding or dying with the Jags,” Morgan said.

Metayer noted that while she and Morgan play together on the back line, they’ve battled on the waiver wire.

“Esme got mad at me last week because I picked up the Packers defense before she could,” Metayer said.

But she added that there’s a split in the league.

“It’s funny, it’s like half the people are really into, like, making their team the best and the other half are like, ‘oh, I guess my player’s out this week, what am I gonna do?’”

Midfielder Narumi Miura, in her third season in the league after coming over from Japan, is closer to the latter camp, as she is still learning the game. 

During our conversation, I was guiding her through some details, including what the different percentages mean that show how many people own a given player, as well as the meaning of the projections of how many points a player will get.

But Miura really just seemed happy to be a part of it.

“I didn’t learn, you know, like, what’s the rules or like, players, but I’m learning,” Miura said.

“It’s nice and good for me to hang out, learning English as well.” 

Miura might not fully recognize it yet but she seems to have a fairly stacked team, with Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield among those leading the way.

She said she feels like building connections with her teammates off the field can be helpful even to her on-field performance. And that it can be helpful for someone like her navigating a place with a different language, culture and people.

In a consummate example of the link between the league and learning about American culture, the Spirit posted a video in August asking players for their reaction to Taylor Swift’s engagement to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

Italian forward Sofia Cantore, a participant in the fantasy league, did not know who Kelce was. 

“Sofi here is playing fantasy football with us, so she will learn soon,” Metayer told the camera.

@washspirit

It’s a love story and she said YES! 💍🥹 Visual learners, stay til the end 😅 #taylorswift #traviskelce @Croix @Chloe Ricketts @Esme Morgan ... See more

It’s unclear whether or not there will be a punishment for whomever finishes in last place. It’s unlikely it’ll go as far as the infamous Waffle House challenge that some leagues use (24 hours in a Waffle House, IHOP or similar and you cut one hour off it for each entire waffle or pancake you eat.)

Some potential punishments players and staff in the know told me about included having the rest of the league pick the last-place finisher’s outfit for one of the pregame outfit photo shoots that the team shares on its social media before each game, as well as one in which the loser may have to sing the national anthem before a game.

Morgan said she’s not particularly afraid of any outfit-related punishment.

“I don’t put that much effort into it anyway so if someone wants to decide what I’m gonna wear for the day, I’d be quite grateful, to be honest.”

Metayer told me they couldn’t figure out who was the true last place finisher last year—the bottom of the regular season standings or the loser of the lowest rung of the consolation bracket—so they did not land on a punishment.

But this year?

“We shall see,” she said.

While I don’t have updates about how all the fantasy teams did this week, midfielder Courtney Brown seems to be the cream of the crop this season.

“My team’s doing great, I’m 3-0 right now, so I’m really excited about that,” Brown said.

Brown got off to her hot start with a squad led by Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, New York Jets running back Breece Hall and her fellow University of Utah alum, Buffalo Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid.

She said that despite the competition among players, there hasn’t been much trash talk so far.

“I think we’re still a little bit early in the season, and, like, the table is kind of up in the air,” Brown said. 

But then a thought occurred to Brown after she remembered her record.

“I guess maybe I should start trash talking.”

Something Good I Ate

Let’s bring this home with a quick tribute to one of the weirder concession stand items I’ve had at a sporting event: the crab mac & cheese dog!

I have had this creation a few times now when going to Baltimore Orioles games at Camden Yards.

It’s a dog made by the ballpark outpost of Stuggy’s, a hot dog shop in Baltimore’s Fells Point neighborhood.

And it is exactly as described: a wiener topped with macaroni and cheese, topped in turn with crab meat, topped yet again with Old Bay seasoning.

It is extremely Baltimore and quite good. I had it for the first time right as games began opening up to crowds in the spring 2021 reopening phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I remember being a bit nervous to take my mask off to eat but this thing calmed any nerves. I was pretty worried that it may not exactly calm my stomach but I avoided any drama and have never been sent running for the bathroom by the dog’s potentially upsetting mix of toppings.

The Orioles did not make the postseason but I’ll be looking forward to having another crab mac & cheese dog when I get back there next season.

Just a note: Any work here or opinions I express are solely mine, and do not reflect the views of my employer, my coworkers, or anybody else affiliated with me. The newsletter is not monetized in any way and everything in here is written and reported with my own resources on my own time outside of my working hours unless specifically noted otherwise. “I’m Curious” is just for me, the author, and for you, the reader. Thank you for reading. I’m glad you’re here.