Depending on whatever echo chamber you’ve decided to inhabit on social media, the final of the Women’s college basketball tournament might sound very different than it does to someone else. I’m sure for all the genuine college basketball fans out there, and especially LSU fans, all there is is an appreciation for how LSU couldn’t miss from three in the first half and then executed their offense perfectly in the second half and couldn’t miss from the mid-range either. That’s probably the only story that really should be told.
In another quadrant, you might hear how the refs were absolute dogshit, which is also true. Especially in the first half, it definitely felt like we couldn’t get more than two trips down the floor without a whistle being blown for someone’s aura being impeded. Caitlin Clark got the pettiest technical foul you’ll ever see, which also counts as a personal foul for some reason, and both her and Iowa’s other big weapon, Monika Czinazo, were thrown into foul trouble for what felt like the simple reason that the refs wanted to be part of the show, which definitely affected things. It’s not likely that Iowa would have been able to overcome the Tigers anyway, but it did darken the spectacle a bit.
Quite possibly in your part of the universe you got to witness a whole new legion of people who wanted to drop an anvil on Kim Mulkey, the answer to the question of what would happen if you combined the entire Price Is Right set and audience into one person. There are certainly more than enough reasons.
Let the women play, too
Or, if you live in another part of the digital world, you might have heard some weird, giant rumbling, which was the massive collective pearl-clutching when LSU’s Angel Reese had the audacity to shit-talk to Clark…who is only one of the more brash stars that have come on the scene in some time.
Using Olbermann as a barometer for anything is a dangerous game, given no man may have ever been higher on his own farts (except for maybe Cody Rhodes! You best believe we’ll get to him later!). But I highly doubt he’s alone. When Clark is doing shit like this…
…it’s just swagger or flare. Reese does it…and well, you know. And you know why.
Clark knows the deal when she does what she does, which is why it’s so galvanizing. She knows there’s a chance that someone might come along and feed it to her, and that’s the game. She has the confidence and belief that she can play her way out of facing the music. She doesn’t have a problem with it and no one else inside the game does either. Maybe next year no one gets the chance and she can You-Can’t-See-Me all the way to the trophy.
This is sports, don’t we love seeing the brash one who stepped out there get taken down every so often? Or are only white girls allowed to do that?
Reese and Clark will be doing this against each other (or maybe with each other one day) for a while. There are more college games to be played. They’ll both be in the WNBA, and will be box office when they are. Maybe even a Team USA somewhere down the line. Chances are they’ll laugh about it. So should everyone. This is the game, and everyone knew the rules beforehand.
Finally, some good news from the NWSL
Staying in women’s sports, there was a heartwarming story out of the NWSL this weekend, as Sinead Farrelly returned to the field, coming on as a sub for Gotham FC. You’ll recall Farrelly was one of the two women who came forward in The Athletic about the abusive, coercive, and manipulative behavior of coach Paul Riley, which eventually tore the cover off all the abuses that were going on in the league from a plethora of coaches. Farrelly had quit the game altogether after what she had been put through with Riley, but signed with Gotham after her seven-year absence.
If only more, or all, stories of abuse could end this way, with the survivor getting to reclaim what had been poisoned to them and feeling like they’ve triumphed. While their abuser at least rots away in anonymity and infamy, if not in a prison cell. We know it doesn’t always end this way, and in fact rarely does. But for one weekend, Farrelly and the NWSL could feel that, and for that, we all win.