Af
ter WNBA rookie Caitlin Clark took a heavy fall during the Indiana Fever’s 71-70 victory over the Chicago Sky the other night, do fans want someone to be benched, ejected, banned, or fined? Begin with ESPN personality Pat McAfee, perhaps.
Many people had been anticipating that game, which was billed as a matchup between former college rivals Angel Reese (LSU) and Clark (previously of Iowa), who would be meeting for the first time on the professional circuit. However, Chennedy Carter’s scolding of Clark—classified at first as a personal foul but then upgraded to a flagrant—took center stage, providing material for debates over whether or not Clark is being unfairly singled out and, if so, whether the WNBA ought to take action.
Regarding being targeted, Clark remarked, “I think at this point I know I’m going to take a couple of hard shots a game and that’s what it is.” “I’m attempting to ignore it.” But McAfee was more than happy to jump into the fight. He referred to Clark, who he seemed to be praising and defending as the reason so many people are interested in the WNBA, as the “one white b*tch for the Indiana team who is a superstar” during one of his shock-jock style presentations on his own show on Monday.
Does McAfee exist just to make people laugh? Indeed. Is he aware that the term “b*tch” has numerous meanings? Furthermore, without a doubt. Just hours after his own Don Imus moment, McAfee apologized, but he continued to maintain that he was ultimately correct. He said on X (previously Twitter) that he shouldn’t have called Caitlin Clark a “white b*tch.” Whatever the situation, even if we’re discussing how ethnicity plays a role in some of the things that occurI respect women and her much too much to allow such to exist in the universe.
He didn’t stop there, though. “Like the entire piece, my intentions were nice when I said it, but many people are claiming that it wasn’t at all. That is entirely my fault, and I sincerely apologize. I also apologized to Caitlin by email. Everything else I mentioned remains true to the facts.
He gave it another go Tuesday morning. “This is (Clark), this is the one, is how I truly meant it to be said.It wasn’t until 2.5 hours after the show concluded that he truly realized what was going on the internet,” he claimed. “Then.For a significant part of my travels, I truly felt like the worst person on the planet.Although that was not my aim, that is how you interpreted it. I’m responsible for that. I’m sorry.
However, the harm is already done. Even when it’s wrapped up in a condescending tirade, the word doesn’t care. Every male who uses it is aware that it is a demeaning, gendered term of disparagement that has no counterpart on the side of men. Undoubtedly, women have taken back the word in a variety of ways, such as through “Bitch” magazine. But regardless of how commonplace the term may sound, that doesn’t mean men, like you, Mr. McAfee, have the go-ahead.
To put it plainly, the WNBA is nothing new. A professional sports league shouldn’t be in its 28th season and still be experiencing this kind of controversy, with pundits on professional sports, even the less prominent ones, being at a loss for words when discussing the league and its players. However, a lot more people are now watching it and talking about it, mostly as a result of Clark. And many people who don’t know what they’re talking about, even and maybe especially the physicality of professional women’s basketball, own those eyes, mouths, and those kinds of things.
Many so-called sports commentators struggled to understand Clark’s position in the sport even before she joined the WNBA. Naturally, surpassing LSU great Pete Maravich’s scoring record sparked a horde of Pistol Pete acolytes who felt compelled to defend their idol, casting doubt on Clark’s record due to Maravich’s limited playing time, lack of a shot clock, and lack of a three-point shooting option. It is commonly overlooked by these fans that he competed in a segregated league.
Following the excitement and unprecedented viewership of the 2024 NCAA tournament, sports analysts appeared to be struggling to find a way to discuss all of these newly discovered teams. The WNBA teams’ different names from their NBA equivalents caused Bill Simmons and Ethan Strauss anxiety. How in the world could they expand their knowledge base to include the names of 12 teams—teams that have been existing for a while, mind you—on their rosters?
Professional sportscasters are these people. However, they also — possibly more so than anybody else — appear unable to separate the women’s part of a sport from the men’s. It doesn’t always follow that the WNBA teams you’ve never heard of are new. Ask Gregg Doyel, who rose to prominence as a shining example of what happens when an accomplished professional sports journalist abruptly loses their sense of public relations etiquette. His awkward (to put it mildly) exchange with Clark during her initial post-draft interview was already problematic, but what made it worse was his apparent incapacity to recognize his own mistakes.
Naturally, the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board isn’t composed of a group of accomplished sportswriters. However, they did weigh in, clumsily sloshing around the sporting world in a weak — and perplexing — editorial that defended Clark and compared Carter’s criticism of her to a “assault.” “Carter committed an egregious foul,” the team’s hometown newspaper reported. “It would have been considered an attack if it hadn’t been a sporting event. She ought to have been dismissed from the match.
When Alyssa Thomas clotheslined Angel Reese during the third quarter of the Sun’s victory over the Sky, which resulted in Thomas being thrown off the court following an official review—a flagrant foul two—where were these writers? Reese remarked, “They’re not supposed to be nice to me,” regarding the hit. I hope that’s clear to everyone. Just because I’m Angel Reese or a rookie doesn’t mean they have to be kind to me or lay down.”
Clark “hasn’t done anything to deserve the treatment she’s been receiving,” according to the Tribune editorial. She has, though. She is competent. Very, very well done. a talent for the generation. a player who, before to entering the professional ranks, secured multimillion-dollar endorsement deals. She seems to be carrying the league’s weight on her shoulders and has unquestionably increased the level of excitement surrounding the WNBA in an unprecedented way.
But this isn’t soccer for little kids or T-ball. Nobody is receiving an ice cream cone and a participation medal. From A’ja Wilson to Breanna Stewart, this is a league of giants. Has this editorial board ever attended a Blackhawks game? Before venturing into this territory, they really need to have consulted the paper’s beat reporters. or the Bears? Off the ice and off the football field, checking and tackling may also be viewed as an attack.
However, they aren’t. Sport involves several actions that aren’t common in daily life, such as dressing uniformly for all of our coworkers, shoving others aside to obtain what we want, or believing that just because someone is wearing thick gloves, we can slug them. If the WNBA is finally here to stay—and to say that it is long overdue is an understatement—then those who wish to make predictions and commentary need to step up their game. Put down the doubters and the ignorant. Allow the females to hoops.
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