I’m not that different from most guys. I like to watch sports. I also hate woke crap. Just let sports be sports.
No one ever gave a tinker’s damn about the WNBA until Caitlin Clark showed up. Even then, the numbers say most watched her team, and the lesbians watched the rest of the league. Girls basketball is tough to watch for those of us who have seen MJ, Bird, Magic, Wilt Chamberlin, Bill Russell and a host of others. They are 2 different games.
The WNBA is closer to boys 10-14 basketball than anything else. Not a one of them can dunk or have the innate ability that MJ, Bird or Magic had. Clark has this. Look at her assist count.
Catilin could be the draw that could save the game, the ratings and help the league make money. Instead, they let the other players beat the hell out of her because she is (was) a rookie, white, straight, Christian, and didn’t fit the mold.
With her out for the season, I, like many others just don’t bother. It’s a waste of time. The game is boring, and she made at least half of a game watchable. I’ve yet to watch a full pro game of hers, although I did watch a college playoff game of hers.
This incompetence starts at the top:
Cathy Engelbert said what about Caitlin Clark?
Some of the most damaging comments – again, what has been alleged by Collier – involve Cathy Engelbert’s alleged complete dismissal of player salary concerns. Which, when you have a looming player strike, is probably not the best approach.
Engelbert allegedly responded that players like Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark should be grateful for their off-court earnings enabled by the WNBA platform.
“Caitlin should be grateful. She makes $16 million off the court, because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything,” Engelbert said, according to Collier.
“In that same conversation, she told me, players should be on their knees thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them,” the Lynx star continued. “That’s [the] mentality driving our league from the top.”
Holy smokes. If there is a more tone deaf statement about the WNBA out there than that, you’d be hard-pressed to find it.
Players like Clark and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese didn’t rake in millions because of their play in the WNBA. They raked in millions because of their college play and the ensuing rivalry that began there.
And they only made that cash by leveraging other opportunities – Reese’s podcast success and deal with Reebok, and Clark’s Nike deals come to mind. Other, lesser-known players aren’t getting those kinds of off-court contracts and still have to plod their way through a WNBA season while getting paid roughly $75,000/year.
source
I stopped watching a lot of things that are boring or woke. The WNBA gets a two-fer on this.
While not a Bud Light tactic, the result is the same, kill the product’s sales.
The opportunity of a lifetime dropped in Englebert’s lap and she’s throwing it away. People flocked to the Lakers to see Kobe (not Lebron), the Bulls to see MJ, Bird vs Magic, or Stef Curry shoot. The league highlighted them and called fouls that were fouls.
As soon as I heard Caitlin was out, I and tons of others won’t bother turning it on until she comes back.
So she thinks Caitlin is lucky to be playing. The WNBA is lucky that she is playing, and hopefully will come back just as good. If they continue to let others hack her with cheap fouls, it will go back to the high school game that the WNBA has been all along.
It’s called Marketing. She should pay attention to it.