The Clark vs. Reese ‘feud’ is a WNBA godsend
Have you heard that Caitlin Clark is the most remarkable player in women’s basketball history and deserves to be treated accordingly?
Have you heard that Angel Reese is Dennis Rodman II?
Have you heard Clark is a privileged publicity-hog?
Have you heard Reese is a persecuted victim of a racial double standard?
Have you ever even heard of Chennedy Carter?
Unless you’ve spent the past week in a darkness retreat with Aaron Rodgers, the answer to all the above is probably yes. And it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to the WNBA.
It’s so good that I suspect the league secretly hired Vince McMahon to run its marketing department. Here was the pitch:
“Have someone whack Caitlin. She goes down like Ric Flair after getting a bionic elbow from Dusty Rhodes. Angel Reese cheers. The media goes nuts. Party Time, Baby!”
That (probably) didn’t happen, but there’s no doubt that Carter’s hip-check on Clark has become the shot heard beyond the WNBA world.
Besides a million takes on sports platforms, places like the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, National Review, “The View” have weighed in. The incident hit most cultural hot buttons (race, misogynism, LGBTQ, white privilege).
The chin-strokers say we should have a serious conversation about how those things play into the incident. We could, but I’m a little weary of the culture wars. Just pass the popcorn and let’s see if Reese comes off the top rope the next time Indiana and Chicago play.
Heck, a month ago, only 58 people in Chicago even knew the city had a WNBA team. Now Carter’s getting more attention than Caleb Williams.
Are league veterans dangerously jealous of Clark? Why didn’t her teammates rush to her defense? Is Reese a villain or a victim?
Whatever the opinion about these WNBA matters, at least people now care enough to have one. …
Stud of the Week: Florida’s softball team for making it to the Women’s College World Series Final Four.
Stud II: Florida’s baseball team, for somehow making it to a Super Regional against Clemson.
Stud III: Bruhat Soma. The eighth grader from Tampa won the Scripps National Spelling Bee, becoming the second straight winner from our brilliant state. Afterward, Soma admitted that until Caitlin Clark came along, he couldn’t even spell WNBA.
Stud IV: Evansville, for making a Super Regional. That gives the Missouri Valley Conference one more team in the NCAA’s Sweet 16 than the entire Big Ten.
Dud of the Week: San Diego infielder Tucupita Marcano, who was banned for life after placing 231 bets on baseball games. Authorities became suspicious when someone wearing a Padres uniform and a fake moustache kept showing up between innings at the FanDuel Official MLB Betting Parlor at Petco
Park. …
Ohio State just got commitment Tuesday from Bo Jackson, a four-star running back from Cleveland. Georgia then re-signed Herschel Walker. …
Dud of the Week, Medical Edition: The unidentified doctor in Nebraska who declared 74-year-old Constance Glantz dead. Two hours later, an employee at a funeral home noticed she was breathing.
There’s a UF baseball joke in there, but it would be crass to use it. …
Trivia Question: If the Panthers beat Edmonton in the NHL Final, Miami will become the 10th city to have teams win titles in the four major sports. Can you name the other nine? ….
Twenty-eight of the past 34 winners of the Scripps Spelling Bee have been Indian Americans. I suspect it’s because they are smart and study hard, but it could just be Indian privilege. …
The Louisville prosecutor’s office dropped assault charges against Scottie Scheffler, who allegedly disregarded a policeman’s parking orders before a tournament last month. Records showed the policeman had previously tried to arrest 58 professional golfers for tearing tags off their mattresses. ….
Conspiracy Kook of the Week: Danica Patrick said she believes the Apollo moon landings were fake. In related news, racing fans said when Patrick got her one win in 368 career races, a Martian was actually driving the car. …
The 1999 Scripps Spelling Bee winner was Nupur Lala from Tampa. Duly inspired, a Tampa Tribune sports writer misspelled her name in a column. …
Trivia Hint: No SEC town has had a team win a title in a major sport, though Starkville won the International Horseshoes Championship in 1966. …
Gender Inequality: Angel Reese was fined $1,000 for not talking to the media after the game against Indiana. The NBA fines players $25,000 for the same offense. …
Bo Still Knows: Ohio State’s running back prospect said that if the Bucs eventually draft him, he’ll switch sports and play for the Kansas City Royals. …
Among the words Bruhat Soma spelled correctly to win the spelling bee were habitude, indumentum, dehnstufe, Okvik and Hoofddorp. If you can spell any of them without a dictionary, consider yourself overqualified to be a sportswriter. …
Breaking News: Danica Patrick said she believes the WWE World Heavyweight Championship between Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 40 was real. …
A California man is suing Madonna for “emotional distress and false advertising,” after he said he was forced to watch simulated sex acts during one of her concerts. Madonna and sex? Next he’ll sue the NFL for making him watch forward passes during a Dolphins game. …
Trivia Update: The contest has been cancelled since it designates hockey as a major sport instead of college football. …
That’s about all the space we have for this week’s Whitley’s Believe It or Not. If I misspelled any words, it was because of a malfunctioning Hoofddorp.
David Whitley is The Gainesville Sun's sports columnist. Contact him at dwhitley@gannett.com. Follow him on X @DavidEWhitley