ESPN: A love letter to basketball, by Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins

[Colonoscopy]

Aren't we going a little overboard here? It was just a basketball game. It was a big matchup featuring a rematch of last years national championship game. It featured a few of the biggest stars in the game.

It wasn't transcendent. It wasn't magical or anything else. Stop putting women's basketball up on a pedestal. It's just basketball.

A love letter to basketball, by Caitlin, Angel, Paige and JuJu

In two blockbusters, stars shined in a transcendent night: Iowa-LSU and UConn-USC lived up to the hype.

www.espn.com

 

[Moral]

It's just marketing. ESPN wants the hype to pull viewers which they certainly have been doing recently.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

Bro... this Is the height of exposure, let them.run with it as much as they can.


I learned the other day the average income for a wnba player is like 115k. I make more than that at my 9-5 and have picked up 3 additional jobs to get where I want to get. Let them max it any way they can.

 

[Bonerfarts]

I'd smash em all.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

I'd smash em all.

I'm going to take some heat for this.... but....... I'd bang them all except CC.....

 

[RagnarLothbrok]

learned the other day the average income for a wnba player is like 115k. I make more than that at my 9-5 and have picked up 3 additional jobs to get where I want to get

Lol

 

[RagnarLothbrok]

I'm going to take some heat for this.... but....... I'd bang them all except CC.....

I agree.

 

[NorthernHawkeye]

Aren't we going a little overboard here?

No. We are not going overboard.

When a fan message board, consisting of a majority of guys, is talking more about the women's game than the men' game, we reached unchartered territory.

 

[Moral]

I'm going to take some heat for this.... but....... I'd bang them all except CC.....

How about the mens team?

 

[Colonoscopy]

Bro... this Is the height of exposure, let them.run with it as much as they can.


I learned the other day the average income for a wnba player is like 115k. I make more than that at my 9-5 and have picked up 3 additional jobs to get where I want to get. Let them max it any way they can.

I'm not complaining about it's positive impacts on players. Of course the national attention is great for Iowa.

But a bunch of media has gone

on women's basketball and it's becoming corny and cringy.

Some of the stupid questions Clark has to field...
Secondary point:

We do this weird -- i think, stupid -- thing in media today where we instantly analyze the heck out of something as it happens for all societal impacts now and in the future. This looks like deep meaning!

Like, you're not allowed to consume the events as they happen without a bunch of analysis and reflection embedded. That itself is part of the feature now.

Generally in the past you'd let things marinate for a minute. You'd actually wait to see what shook out a bit. The whole black lives matter protest thing was the same way.

I call it the Ron-Paul-Gif-Effect.

I've watched this effect for a while now, bunch of other examples you could pull up.

 

[Colonoscopy]

No. We are not going overboard.

When a fan message board, consisting of a majority of guys, is talking more about the women's game than the men' game, we reached unchartered territory.

I'm not talking about simple popularity. Of course ESPN or whomever else should hype big matchups like they do in any other sport.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

How about the mens team?

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

I'm not complaining about it's positive impacts on players. Of course the national attention is great for Iowa.

But a bunch of media has gone

on women's basketball and it's becoming corny and cringy.

Some of the stupid questions Clark has to field...
Secondary point:

We do this weird -- i think, stupid -- thing in media today where we instantly analyze the heck out of something as it happens for all societal impacts now and in the future. This looks like deep meaning!

Like, you're not allowed to consume the events as they happen without a bunch of analysis and reflection embedded. That itself is part of the feature now.

Generally in the past you'd let things marinate for a minute. You'd actually wait to see what shook out a bit. The whole black lives matter protest thing was the same way.

I call it the Ron-Paul-Gif-Effect.

I've watched this effect for a while now, bunch of other examples you could pull up.

There is alot of truth to what you are saying, no doubt. I think mich of it is where we are as humankind.

 

[Bonerfarts]

I'm going to take some heat for this.... but....... I'd bang them all except CC.....

 

[onlyTheObvious]

Let’s see what ratings are next year.

IMO unless another player starts shooting from Steph range like Clark I don’t see the momentum carrying.

 

[TJ8869]

Let’s see what ratings are next year.

IMO unless another player starts shooting from Steph range like Clark I don’t see the momentum carrying.

They’re not going to stay the same without Clark, but they’re not going back to what they were 10 years ago either. The women’s game is much more entertaining than it used to be.

 

[Sharky1203]

Let’s see what ratings are next year.

IMO unless another player starts shooting from Steph range like Clark I don’t see the momentum carrying.

In a way you may be correct. For me it's really nice to see players stick around for 4-5 years (all be it maybe transferring). The men come out of high school and do the mandatory 1 year. Let's look at the Hawks in the last 4 years, how many have left early. The women play a purer game, IMO. I will stick it out, CC less.

 

[HawkMachine]

The women’s game is much more entertaining than it used to be.

It's actually not.

The only games that are exciting are the Iowa games.

I tried to watch some of the USC UCONN game in the office last night and it was your typical women's college game. It was boring.

NOBODY plays the game like Iowa does right now. NOBODY.

Ratings will drop like a rock next year. Sad but true.

 

[torbee]

Aren't we going a little overboard here? It was just a basketball game. It was a big matchup featuring a rematch of last years national championship game. It featured a few of the biggest stars in the game.

It wasn't transcendent. It wasn't magical or anything else. Stop putting women's basketball up on a pedestal. It's just basketball.

A love letter to basketball, by Caitlin, Angel, Paige and JuJu

In two blockbusters, stars shined in a transcendent night: Iowa-LSU and UConn-USC lived up to the hype.

www.espn.com

It was transcendent.

It’s not often back to back games feature a sport’s 4 biggest stars and then lives up to the billing.

 

[poophawk]

It's actually not.

The only games that are exciting are the Iowa games.

I tried to watch some of the USC UCONN game in the office last night and it was your typical women's college game. It was boring.

NOBODY plays the game like Iowa does right now. NOBODY.

Ratings will drop like a rock next year. Sad but true.

Bueckers is fun to watch

 

[Colonoscopy]

It was transcendent.

It’s not often back to back games feature a sport’s 4 biggest stars and then lives up to the billing.

I have a much higher threshold for the usage of that word. (granted a transcendent moment is subjective) So that seemed way out of place.

Like 1980 US Hockey vs Russia... I might use the word. I guess I'd rarely use the word in sports, honestly.

That was just a bunch of good elite 8 matchups with some of the games best players.

 

[onlyTheObvious]

I have a much higher threshold for the usage of that word. (granted a transcendent moment is subjective) So that seemed way out of place.

Like 1980 US Hockey vs Russia. I guess I'd rarely use the word in sports, honestly.

That was just a bunch of good elite 8 matchups with some of the games best players.

Agreed. The 1980 Hockey game has no equal. Not even close.

The Russians were the equivalent of nhl all stars. More than once they beat NHL All Star teams in the months leading up to Olympics.

 

[Colonoscopy]

They’re not going to stay the same without Clark, but they’re not going back to what they were 10 years ago either. The women’s game is much more entertaining than it used to be.

It's definitely not all Clark, although she's the most exciting player, easily.

I don't know that the women's game has changed that much. But it's a good question. It may be that the women's game benefited much more from the fast paced three-point oriented style of play and that made it more exciting to watch.

I saw Caitlin Clark say as much... saying that women can't dunk and fly through the air like the guys, but, they can shoot. The Steph Curry style of play is also exciting.

 

[Colonoscopy]

The other item isn't basketball specific. It may be that women's players are more interesting (than men collegiate players) on a personal level to the public -- other women? guys because they're the opposite sex? -- and that social media has been a big boon where fan interest is concerned.

 

[Colonoscopy]

There is also the parity, or lack there of, in talent.

I feel like the men's game has a lot of parity -- not too many players that really standout from the rest. Not so right now with women's collegiate ball.

Contrast is always fun to watch. People like stars.

 

[CoachH]

It's actually not.

The only games that are exciting are the Iowa games.

I tried to watch some of the USC UCONN game in the office last night and it was your typical women's college game. It was boring.

NOBODY plays the game like Iowa does right now. NOBODY.

Ratings will drop like a rock next year. Sad but true.

I watch more women's games than men's these days. There is star power in the women's sport, even without Clark.

I will probably watch it next year. I will probably watch some WNBA, too.

Clark's effect has been massive. They will need new star power to keep it going next year.

 

[onlyTheObvious]

There is also the parity, or lack there of, in talent.

I feel like the men's game has a lot of parity -- not too many players that really standout from the rest. Not so right now with women's collegiate ball.

Contrast is always fun to watch. People like stars.

Parity is a lot better than it was. Was t long ago that UConn basically hand picked the 10-12 players they thought were best in the country.

 

[HawkMachine]

I watch more women's games than men's these days. There is star power in the women's sport, even without Clark.

I will probably watch it next year. I will probably watch some WNBA, too.

Clark's effect has been massive. They will need new star power to keep it going next year.

So you are saying you will watch USC games?

I won't.

I bet you won't either.

 

[jaxhawk06]

So you are saying you will watch USC games?

I won't.

I bet you won't either.

I will because they'll be in the Big Ten. I hope they come to Carver

 

[EagleHawk]

Parity is a lot better than it was. Was t long ago that UConn basically hand picked the 10-12 players they thought were best in the country.

Yep, UConn and Tennessee got most of the talent, Stanford took the west coast girls, and ND got enough of the leftovers to be good. A Texas school usually was also pretty good. Filling out a bracket was easy. There are starting to be a few 1st round upsets in the 5-12 range, but 1-4 is still pretty safe with hosting first round games. Starting to get a few more second round upsets as well even with home court. Maybe in a few years they will do away with the host schools, but probably not.

 

[Bonerfarts]

\

So you are saying you will watch USC games?

I won't.

I bet you won't either.

I will. I've been watching the non-Iowa women's games casually for a few months. It's filling in the space of the Men's game from the 80s and 90s. Teams have stars that stick around for multiple years, and you get to know the role players on each team. I'm just concerned that the transfer portal will ruin what they have going on. The men's game is hard to watch anymore with trying to keep all the players sorted.

 

[EagleHawk]

So you are saying you will watch USC games?

I won't.

I bet you won't either.

They will be in the B1G next year, so I will be more likely to watch them play Maryland, OSU, and whoever else besides Iowa is at the top of the conference.

 

[desihawk]

i think womens cbb is living up to the hype. i enjoy watching this more than the men’s college version.

 

[MeetTheFerentzes]

They’re not going to stay the same without Clark, but they’re not going back to what they were 10 years ago either. The women’s game is much more entertaining than it used to be.

No doubt about it. I tried watching women's basketball back in the '90s (Iowa had some pretty good teams then) and as hard as I tried, I just could not watch an entire game. It was just plain excruciating. Now the women's game is very entertaining, and many of the Iowa games are much more fun to watch than most men's games (not just Iowa men's; that shit-show isn't a fair comparison).

 

[MeetTheFerentzes]

I watch more women's games than men's these days. There is star power in the women's sport, even without Clark.

I will probably watch it next year. I will probably watch some WNBA, too.

Clark's effect has been massive. They will need new star power to keep it going next year.

Folks in Indy are all-in on CC coming to town.

 

[CoachH]

So you are saying you will watch USC games?

I won't.

I bet you won't either.

Sure. Both Southern Cal for Juju and South Carolina for their loaded roster.

As someone else said, Cal is now in the Big 10, so that's another incentive. I watched some OSU, Indiana and Nebraska women's games this year. Keeps me informed of who Iowa can face off with.

So don't watch. I'll admit I'm late to the bandwagon for women's BB. But I have been very entertained by the product the past couple years. Will Clark leaving affect that? Sure. But that just means I have some new faces to look forward to cheering for.

 

[noleclone2]

Check this out!

 

[Colonoscopy]

Check this out!

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Anything Clark has been a part of has regularly been top in ticket price all season.

 

[TJ8869]

Check this out!

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That’s impressive. And I don’t mean to detract from the women’s games, but that’s not really an apples-to-apples comparison.

The women’s Final Four will be held in a basketball arena that holds roughly 20,000 fans. The men’s Final Four will be held in a football stadium and attendance will be roughly 70,000 fans.

 

[EagleHawk]

Check this out!

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