Open season on Caitlin Clark

[bourbon n blues]

Bourbon, you're three days late to the party. You'd have loved it here this past weekend.

My father's funeral was Saturday . He was failing for a few months and passed on 5/20. Life changes like that and other things have dulled my interest in sports in general . I'll still watch psu wrestling but college football doesn't even catch my interest .

I'll bitch a little about women's basketball, mainly due to the fact that we seem to get it shoved down our faces. Even this whole incident to me seems a little bit contrived. People get the bitch about racism, white, black, snug, flopping, etc. I just add that I'm not gonna buy into too much other than a few comments here because it's still is the WNBA and it's horrible .

I get some people really love sports, I have a cousin like that. He must go to over 50 sporting events a year. Personally I think he's a little nuts, but he's your typical sport. Needs to lose 80 pounds, doesn't exercise enough, has to have a sport on TV. I think even he avoids women's basketball though lol.

Me PSU wrestling is my thing now. First, it's a weight class sport and I can relate to that through my lifting. I also know how tough it is, but the main thing is Penn State is so dominant that it's ridiculous.

 

[bourbon n blues]

I just don’t get it. Agree to disagree on a matter of record?. No one ever said the NBA didn’t have interesting players then. But it’s a matter of fact that the NBA was losing audience inside the arenas in the 70’s. Drugs image and bad behaviors. David Stern is a direct source for this information and credit league turnaround. Not me. I just happen to remember it in real time.

I start watching basketball somewhere around that time, the 76ers were doing rather well and lost to the Portland Trailblazers in the finals. I watch basketball for about 15 years or so, but when my favorite players retired, my interest dropped off.

 

[PurposePitch]

It was a much different time. Again, with only three TV outlets, you had to have enough viewership to bump a more popular program. At the time, MLB was huge. The NBA's lack of popularity wasn't the "stars" or "white stars", there were plenty of those. And that is the point of the discussion. With Caitlin Clark the league has an opportunity and they will squander it if they allow this treatment to persist. I think the rivaly with Bird and Magic fell into the NBA's hands. They had a good commissioner who capitalized. With cable TV and much more sports programming, it all fell into place. Even at that, they still have been regulated to TNT which isn't exactly a great outlet. Hell, back then, NASCAR was much more popular than both NBA and NHL.

I always forget that the WNBA is in season, and that Caitlin Clark is in the WNBA. This drama gives the league (and media outlets) an excuse to further promote it, and gives fans and other bystanders an excuse to insert themselves into the drama by taking a side (which is the most popular hobby of fans, in today's world). Men v. women, white v. black ... folks love this poop. Nothing makes a certain type of modern-day man-baby happier than to announce he's boycotting something because they've done something with which he disagrees.

Even though I have absolutely no intrinsic interest in the WNBA, even I stopped the TV tuner a couple times to watch a couple minutes of a game before I realized why I don't watch.

 

[bourbon n blues]

The NBA was simply not that popular until both Larry and Magic were on the court and turned them around. Jordan launched them into an international interest. I don’t even need the tape delay argument. Ask David Stern if you could. It’s a matter of fact that the NBA was not moving up, it was declining.

And yes. Your last line is on the mark…..players and coaches do not have to throw a red carpet out for Clark, but they would do well to let her capitalize on interest ON the court. The sheer volume of complaining from players about their pay scale comparing to men’s players and that they have to go overseas to make a living….has somehow blinded them to a cash cow crossing the street.

They don't care, these aren't smart people, they are athletes. And they're entitled,

Even with Kaitlyn Clark's efforts, the WNBA will not be able to stand on it all without heavy NBA subsidies

 

[Obliviax]

They don't care, these aren't smart people, they are athletes. And they're entitled,

Even with Kaitlyn Clark's efforts, the WNBA will not be able to stand on it all without heavy NBA subsidies

I don't disagree but check out the young girls that are flocking to WNBA games right now. Also, the women's soccer team had a great game against Korea yesterday unavailing several new, young players.. They've got a 16 year old playing that could be the next phenom. Pay attention to Lily Yohannes.

My point is that women's sports are on the rise. Parents are desperately searching for good role models for their kids right now.

 

[Lion84]

4 Pages on something that happened in the WNBA - the Earth must have stopped spinning on it's axis.

 

[bourbon n blues]

I don't disagree but check out the young girls that are flocking to WNBA games right now. Also, the women's soccer team had a great game against Korea yesterday unavailing several new, young players.. They've got a 16 year old playing that could be the next phenom. Pay attention to Lily Yohannes.

My point is that women's sports are on the rise. Parents are desperately searching for good role models for their kids right now.

I get it's on the rise, however the sport still isn't viable to stand alone, shenanigans like in the WNBA won't help things, so they need to clan up the games so everyone can do better.

One problem is many of these athletes aren't very bright and I can see them killing the golden goose.

 

[saturdaysarebetter2]

4 Pages on something that happened in the WNBA - the Earth must have stopped spinning on it's axis.

 

[jjw165]

Why UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma believes Caitlin Clark is 'being targeted' in WNBA​

https://www.ctinsider.com/sports/uconn-womens-basketball/article/caitlin-clark-geno-auriemma-wnba-19496485.php

 

[Obliviax]

Why UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma believes Caitlin Clark is 'being targeted' in WNBA​

https://www.ctinsider.com/sports/uconn-womens-basketball/article/caitlin-clark-geno-auriemma-wnba-19496485.php

haven't read this yet but it does come to mind that Geno had a superstar (who happened to be white) in Diana Taurasi.

 

[LionDeNittany]

haven't read this yet but it does come to mind that Geno had a superstar (who happened to be white) in Diana Taurasi.

Diana Taurasi is also the all time leading scorer in the WNBA.

Diana wasn't straight though.

 

[Obliviax]

LOL...saw this today and thought it was funny. An NBA ref dragging Scottie Pippen off the court to let play continue against the Pistons and Bill Lambier.

 

[Lesgo_Brandon]

I just don’t get it. Agree to disagree on a matter of record?. No one ever said the NBA didn’t have interesting players then. But it’s a matter of fact that the NBA was losing audience inside the arenas in the 70’s. Drugs image and bad behaviors. David Stern is a direct source for this information and credit league turnaround. Not me. I just happen to remember it in real time.

ESPN did a nice Bird & Magic 30 for 30 where they referenced the declining ratings. There were multiple reasons but they were trending down. That rivalry brought renewed interest almost instantly.

 

[AWS1022]

Matt has a segment on this. A few things, first always remember that women's basketball is awful.

This pretty privilege argument for Clark along with white etc is just stupid. I do not want to to insult her looks but pretty is kind. She's average looking. She is white, and if that draws fans, who cares .

If black female lesbians played some real kick ass basketball that was worth watching, will say as good as the NBA talent, wise and physicality wise just that they're smaller, I would watch that over the NBA. And I don't watch the NBA right now.

Any WNBA team would get smoked by boys high school team that was halfway decent. They would just crush them.

Kelsey Plum is white and prettier than Clark, but she didn’t bring in the fans…and she set the scoring record in college before Clark.

 

[AWS1022]

Is this gonna be like the time you said the football staff couldn't be questioned because they make more money than everyone criticizing them, and then an hour later, you were trashing the basketball staff at the beginning of a game when they were up 10pts and then just kept doubling down?

Clark is bigger than Kennedy
Kennedy committed a flagrant foul
Clark flopped
She has history - watch the clips - of flopping, even when she wasn't "expecting it."

Two things can be true, as I noted originally, and you seem to be trying to make a point about.
Kennedy can be "a trash player" and CC can have flopped.
It's okay. She is a flopper. She's also a star. So is LeBron. Both can be true.

I’ve never once said you shouldn’t criticize the coaching staff because they make more money than you, never. I do question people who have no experience or knowledge of coaching football that post on here like they know more than D-1 coaches…that has nothing to do with how much they make. And the exact comment I made about the basketball team was they started out with a big lead and they blew it and I posted “we’ve never seen that before”….not exactly trashing the coach, but keep your fairy tales going.

 

[jjw165]

haven't read this yet but it does come to mind that Geno had a superstar (who happened to be white) in Diana Taurasi.

In a nutshell, he thinks she’s being targeted due to the number of uncalled fouls.

 

[heckmans]

I’ve never once said you shouldn’t criticize the coaching staff because they make more money than you, never. I do question people who have no experience or knowledge of coaching football that post on here like they know more than D-1 coaches…that has nothing to do with how much they make. And the exact comment I made about the basketball team was they started out with a big lead and they blew it and I posted “we’ve never seen that before”….not exactly trashing the coach, but keep your fairy tales going.

Seriously, you are rewriting history.
On the same day, you said that nobody had business criticizing the football coaches, and then 8 minutes into a bball game with a 10pt lead, you were criticizing the staff.

 

[Ski]

Kelsey Plum is white and prettier than Clark, but she didn’t bring in the fans…and she set the scoring record in college before Clark.

Logo 3s. That is the Clark appeal. She isn't getting them off in the WNBA without a hand in her face like she did in college. She will be a solid WNBA player, but the novelty will wear off by the end of the year and next year the WNBA will be back to obscurity. If they want the league to grow it isn't about superstars as the game the women play is unwatchable for more than a quarter. They already play with a smaller ball than the men. Drop the rims down to somewhere between 9 and 9.5 feet and stop subjecting the fans to 30 missed layups a game along with a dozen air balls.

 

[Marylovesthelions]

Clark is too damned nice for pro sports. She should have pick her spot in that game, take the ball, znd drive hard as hell right into that scumbag. Drove her elbow hard as hell right into her face znc break her nose or jaw or knock out a couple teeth.

Then post game say ‘if this bush league won’t protect me I have to protect myself. If they don’t have to play by the rules then neither will I.’

Her team needs someone like Lamberr (sp), big, tough and dirty.

 

[tboyer]

There's not really.

None on All-NBA first 3 teams.

None on 12-man USA 2024 Olympics team

Nicola Jokic, Luca Doncic? pretty good players

 

[Obliviax]

Nicola Jokic, Luca Doncic? pretty good players

Agreed but the announcer modified his comment to say "American White" players. Seems like they are just making stuff up now. Next it will be "American, white, Western Europeans whose native language is English". To me, it is just race-baiting. They want to make race an issue on everything now. The fact is, if you didn't root for non-white players, you'd not have a sports team to root for.

 

[YYZ86]

First WNBA and women's basketball is awful. As in unwatchable to me.

Clark is a great female player but I'm sure she flops, I'm betting she talks crap too. Just like Larry Bird did. That and some rough play is quite common.

And women's basketball is awful.

She talks a lot of crap. I have no problem with that at that level. As I said earlier, she is a target because of it, but she is a competitor and will be fine.

 

[tboyer]

LOL...saw this today and thought it was funny. An NBA ref dragging Scottie Pippen off the court to let play continue against the Pistons and Bill Lambier.

View embedded media

Laimbeer got him with a bicep to the neck but not malicious in this case, he was just trying to get his right hand up to tip the ball and the left arm came down. That's just the NBA. It is pretty funny they wouldn't stop play, Pippin was in some pain for sure.

 

[The Spin Meister]

LOL...saw this today and thought it was funny. An NBA ref dragging Scottie Pippen off the court to let play continue against the Pistons and Bill Lambier.

View embedded media

That’s hilarious. People would be screaming about it now!

 

[tboyer]

Agreed but the announcer modified his comment to say "American White" players. Seems like they are just making stuff up now. Next it will be "American, white, Western Europeans whose native language is English". To me, it is just race-baiting. They want to make race an issue on everything now. The fact is, if you didn't root for non-white players, you'd not have a sports team to root for.

It really isn't about race but it may be about socioeconomics. NBA is the best in the world. It takes totally freak athletes who have been learning these skills since they were 2 years old. How many middle class boys today would even be allowed by their parents to play basketball for the tens of thousands of hours needed to play at that level?

The women's game is so totally different. To play high-level basketball requires years of playing in AAU leagues, and AAU is VERY expensive with tournaments all over the country in expensive cities that people have to fly to. AAU is overwhelmingly girls whose parents have money.

We knew parents in Seattle who did it (Imagine your kid's basketball as a $20,000-a-year activity) because success on the AAU circuit was a ticket to Ivy League colleges. Ironically, once the girls enroll in the Ivy League college with the coach's help, they can quit basketball, and a lot do because they are so sick of it. Pretty strange.

 

[Cowbell Man]

Agreed but the announcer modified his comment to say "American White" players. Seems like they are just making stuff up now. Next it will be "American, white, Western Europeans whose native language is English". To me, it is just race-baiting. They want to make race an issue on everything now. The fact is, if you didn't root for non-white players, you'd not have a sports team to root for.

Lol. Sounds like Hubie at the mic for games. “He’s the best left handed drive as an under 6’5 red head forward in the game today”.

 

[Jerry]

My father's funeral was Saturday . He was failing for a few months and passed on 5/20. Life changes like that and other things have dulled my interest in sports in general . I'll still watch psu wrestling but college football doesn't even catch my interest .

I'll bitch a little about women's basketball, mainly due to the fact that we seem to get it shoved down our faces. Even this whole incident to me seems a little bit contrived. People get the bitch about racism, white, black, snug, flopping, etc. I just add that I'm not gonna buy into too much other than a few comments here because it's still is the WNBA and it's horrible .

I get some people really love sports, I have a cousin like that. He must go to over 50 sporting events a year. Personally I think he's a little nuts, but he's your typical sport. Needs to lose 80 pounds, doesn't exercise enough, has to have a sport on TV. I think even he avoids women's basketball though lol.

Me PSU wrestling is my thing now. First, it's a weight class sport and I can relate to that through my lifting. I also know how tough it is, but the main thing is Penn State is so dominant that it's ridiculous.

Sorry to hear about your Dad, Bourbon.

Honestly, I've never gotten too much into the wrestling scene. The only guy I ever followed a little way back in the day was Dan Gable because of the way he dominated the 1972 Olympics, beating the Soviet wrestler in the final match.

That was back when I was really into the Olympics -- haven't been interested for a long time -- and the competition between us and the Soviets. Gosh, I hated the Soviets...and all the Commie nations aligned with them...plus their cheating Commie judges.

 

[bourbon n blues]

Kelsey Plum is white and prettier than Clark, but she didn’t bring in the fans…and she set the scoring record in college before Clark.

Calling Clark pretty is odd imo. She's average.

 

[bourbon n blues]

Sorry to hear about your Dad, Bourbon.

Honestly, I've never gotten too much into the wrestling scene. The only guy I ever followed a little way back in the day was Dan Gable because of the way he dominated the 1972 Olympics, beating the Soviet wrestler in the final match.

That was back when I was really into the Olympics -- haven't been interested for a long time -- and the competition between us and the Soviets. Gosh, I hated the Soviets...and all the Commie nations aligned with them...plus their cheating Commie judges.

I've always liked it, my son got me watching when Cael arrived. It's been some kind of ride.

 

[bourbon n blues]

She talks a lot of crap. I have no problem with that at that level. As I said earlier, she is a target because of it, but she is a competitor and will be fine.

Many people talk crap in pro basketball .

 

[AWS1022]

Seriously, you are rewriting history.
On the same day, you said that nobody had business criticizing the football coaches, and then 8 minutes into a bball game with a 10pt lead, you were criticizing the staff.

No, they blew a 10 point lead.

 

[AWS1022]

Logo 3s. That is the Clark appeal. She isn't getting them off in the WNBA without a hand in her face like she did in college. She will be a solid WNBA player, but the novelty will wear off by the end of the year and next year the WNBA will be back to obscurity. If they want the league to grow it isn't about superstars as the game the women play is unwatchable for more than a quarter. They already play with a smaller ball than the men. Drop the rims down to somewhere between 9 and 9.5 feet and stop subjecting the fans to 30 missed layups a game along with a dozen air balls.

I’ve been watching Clark a lot and not just because of the logo threes. I like the fact that she’s playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers. I will likely stop watching because the WNBA game is just a bad product that not even Clark can salvage. For some reason women think that being competitive means beating on your opponent. It’s probably because none of them are super athletic so they can’t go out and make someone look foolish when they get mad by dunking on them or making an ankle breaking type move, so they elbow them or beat on them. They want the world to think their league is far superior than college so they make it more physical because they’re not more athletic than college players…the NBA doesn’t give two sh!ts about the college game while the WNBA spends all their time talking about how much better they are than college and that should go without saying, but apparently it doesn’t.

 

[AWS1022]

3 points on 1 for 10 shooting against the LIberty. So unfair! Definitely time for the league to take action. Maybe the league should start meeting with opposing teams to make sure she gets more open looks.

And she had 30 tonight along with a stat line that no player in the history of the WNBA has ever put up….she’s also the fastest player in the history of the league to get to 200+ points and 50+ assists….she’ll be fine even without the open looks.

 

[Obliviax]

I’ve been watching Clark a lot and not just because of the logo threes. I like the fact that she’s playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers. I will likely stop watching because the WNBA game is just a bad product that not even Clark can salvage. For some reason women think that being competitive means beating on your opponent. It’s probably because none of them are super athletic so they can’t go out and make someone look foolish when they get mad by dunking on them or making an ankle breaking type move, so they elbow them or beat on them. They want the world to think their league is far superior than college so they make it more physical because they’re not more athletic than college players…the NBA doesn’t give two sh!ts about the college game while the WNBA spends all their time talking about how much better they are than college and that should go without saying, but apparently it doesn’t.

here teammates are awful.

 

[jjw165]

Catch the fever 🤒
Some really impressive shots

 

[Cowbell Man]

And she had 30 tonight along with a stat line that no player in the history of the WNBA has ever put up….she’s also the fastest player in the history of the league to get to 200+ points and 50+ assists….she’ll be fine even without the open looks.

Apparently USA Basketball missed those stat lines. And the crowd impact. Apparently they haven’t read the history books either. She sells out an arena that was half full the night before. ….but leave her home for the Olympics so no one can care about the team in Paris.

Her stats are every bit as good and often better than the other players on the team so it’s not like fandom is the only justification.

Comical.

 

[AWS1022]

Apparently USA Basketball missed those stat lines. And the crowd impact. Apparently they haven’t read the history books either. She sells out an arena that was half full the night before. ….but leave her home for the Olympics so no one can care about the team in Paris.

Her stats are every bit as good and often better than the other players on the team so it’s not like fandom is the only justification.

Comical.

It’s pretty easy to see now why the WNBA has never made money, it’s a very poorly run organization with a bad product. They can blame men all they want for their failures, but these horrible decisions seem to keep being made by women. It’s pretty obvious she didn’t get put on the team because the other players on the team didn’t want her. They don’t care about viewership of the Olympics, they just want to go get their gold medal.

 

[Cowbell Man]

It’s pretty easy to see now why the WNBA has never made money, it’s a very poorly run organization with a bad product. They can blame men all they want for their failures, but these horrible decisions seem to keep being made by women. It’s pretty obvious she didn’t get put on the team because the other players on the team didn’t want her. They don’t care about viewership of the Olympics, they just want to go get their gold medal.

They’ll get the medal anyway while people talk about Simone Biles and Swimming and 10 other sports.

 

[AWS1022]

They’ll get the medal anyway while people talk about Simone Biles and Swimming and 10 other sports.

Exactly. Women’s basketball in the Olympics is a joke. Horrible competition.

 

[Obliviax]

Apparently USA Basketball missed those stat lines. And the crowd impact. Apparently they haven’t read the history books either. She sells out an arena that was half full the night before. ….but leave her home for the Olympics so no one can care about the team in Paris.

Her stats are every bit as good and often better than the other players on the team so it’s not like fandom is the only justification.

Comical.

One of the dumbest decisions I've ever seen. This weekend, she sold out an arena she was visiting which was four times the usual attendance. I simply cannot believe they are not promoting her. It's crazy. And if this persists, there is going to be a backlash.