The check-in: A turbulent takeoff
The check-in: A turbulent takeoff
Thoughts on the start of the WNBA season, plus the whip-around!
Hi, friends. The WNBA season started this week, as I’m sure many of you know, and I was hoping the pit that’s been in my stomach since college season would finally dissipate; but it hasn’t. It’s been a rocky, somewhat uncomfortable start, and while there’s nothing inherently wrong or surprising about that, it takes on new meaning now that so many more eyeballs are watching, and so many more talking heads are opining.
At the league level, it’s been a mixed bag. The great news is, of course, that a full-time charter program has finally been given the okay. We celebrated that last week. But unfortunately, the unveiling of said program has been sloppy at best — only two teams, the Indiana Fever and Minnesota Lynx, got to fly charter to their first games and the league didn’t have firm answers on when that was changing for days.
Thankfully, Englebert has confirmed that the program will be fully in place by next Tuesday, May 21. (Except charter busses will still be used between New York and Connecticut and Indiana and Chicago, due to the close distance, which I believe is reasonable!) Very soon, the convoluted rollout will be merely a footnote and everything will be fine.
I’m more nervous about what’s going on with Caitlin Clark, who has struggled mightily in her first two WNBA games, a 92-71 road loss to the Connecticut Sun and a 102-66 home loss to the New York Liberty. In the Sun game, she had 20 points, but had 10 turnovers and looked out of sorts throughout; against the Liberty last night, she had only nine points, and was visibly frustrated and dejected.
None of this is weird; it is extremely normal for a rookie to struggle in their first few games in the pros, especially against teams as good as the Sun and Liberty. There is A LOT working against Clark: She has had the most exhausting past six months fathomable; the Indiana Fever are an inexperienced team with a second-year coach who earned the first pick last year with poor play; the Fever’s opening-week schedule, playing the Sun and Liberty twice, is one of the toughest possible. Clark will figure it out. She will be okay. The Fever will be okay. You’ll be okay. I will, too.
But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to watch her struggle, to see the hot takes pour in, to almost feel people turning the channel in real time.
Athletes in women’s sports carry so much on their shoulders. Every shot, every stroke, every game, every set, every kick, every tournament, it all takes on such outsized significance, as if the legitimacy of their existence hangs in the balance every time a ball hangs in the air. Respect for women’s sports is utilized as a weapon, a privilege that can be yanked away at any moment. And that’s just in normal circumstances.
And the hype around Caitlin Clark? The attention and financial economy that follows her every move? The expectations? There’s nothing normal about that. The pressure on her is almost suffocating for *me* and I’m about as far removed from basketball greatness as it’s possible for one human to be.
The hope is that soon, Clark’s rough start will be just a footnote, like this week of charter question-marks. The hope is that her fans learn about other players in the WNBA, that they keep tuning in and buying tickets even if the Fever only win seven games this season. I don’t know how good she will be in the WNBA pantheon — it’s clear she needs to gain a lot of strength — but I do know that she will have some spectacular moments on the court in her future, and she will also have many, many more humbling ones. She has to give herself grace and patience. Fans and media need to give her grace and patience. And we need to give the new fans she’s bringing in some grace and patience, even if we don’t feel like it’s being reciprocated.
The WNBA is a lot more than Caitlin Clark. You know that, I know that, Clark knows that. A lot of people are just now figuring that out; let’s hope they take the bumps in stride, and along the way, develop the type of respect for women’s sports that’s steadfast through turbulence.
The whip-around:
It’s time for the whip-around, where we look in on women’s sports happenings around the country, primarily, and the world, occasionally. Like usual, this whip-around will not be comprehensive or extensive, but it will be a lot!