Toward the end of the Women’s NCAA March Madness in both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, the attention has turned from the game to a larger issue. Commentators seem to be basing these women’s ability on the color of their skin rather than their talent. This was most prevalent leading up to and following any contest between the reigning champions LSU and the University of Iowa.
Ever since the 2022-23 March Madness, the focus has been on the two star “showy” players leading their teams, Angel Reese (LSU) and Caitlin Clark (Iowa). Reese and Clark met in the Championship game with Reese gaining the ring in a 102-85 final. Both players showcased their personality and competitive nature throughout the regular season and particularly in the playoffs. Most famously, several times throughout the playoffs Clark made a gesture of her hand waving in front of her face. This is a gesture made famous by John Cena meaning “you can’t see me.” While Clark did this in many games throughout the tournament, Reese ended the championship by making Clark’s gesture back at her. There was significant upheaval about Reese’s action compared to Clark’s behavior. This led to many debates about whether race came into play in people’s reactions to each of the women’s behaviors.
The hope was that last year’s racial issues would be a small blimp in women’s basketball history. However, the issue arose again this season (2023-24) playoff tournament. After the Sweet Sixteen game between the LSU Tigers and the ULCA Bruins, LA Times writer Ben Bolch wrote an article about the match-up. He compared the women as “good v. evil” with UCLA playing with “class” and how the LSU seems “hellbent on dividing.” In his eyes UCLA’s women were “America’s Sweethearts” and LSU women were “dirty debutantes.” Since the original publication of the article the LA Times have edited it taking out a large portion of the offensive language. The journalist has issued an apology via X. He apologized to both women’s teams along with admitting that his language was inappropriate with “layers of misogyny, racism and negativity.”
Once the University of Iowa met the Louisiana State in the Elite Eight, the focus then again shifted from the play to the race of the women. Paul Pierce while on FS1’s ‘Undisputed’ began to comment on Caitlin Clark’s ethnicity.
“We saw a While girl in Iowa do it to a bunch of Black girl,” Pierce said. “That gained my respect. She didn’t do this to some other White girls that was over here in Colorado or whatever. She did this to some girls from LSU, who we thought were dog, defending champs. [She] put them on her knee and spanked them.”
No matter whether Pierce meant this as a compliment to the Iowa player it is still highly inappropriate to go into these women’s games with the preconceived notion that their race can diminish their game.
Both of the examples from the 2023-24 postseason show that people tend to speak/write before they think. These people think they are experts speaking their opinions as facts and not thinking before expressing their polarizing rhetoric. So, probably one of the most important words for this situation was spoken by former NBA player Charles Barkley.
“There’s no such thing as an expert,” he said to Dan Patrick. “It’s just somebody’s opinion. I hate when these guys say, ‘Well, he’s an expert.’ No, he’s not. It’s just some fool giving his opinion.”
My Opinion
I tend to agree with Barkley, (who I am by no means a fan of, but he is 100% correct about this drama) that these “experts” need to think before speaking and not think their word is final. With that being said I wanted to express my absolute correct expert facts…just kidding. Here is my opinion on the issue:
First of all, I am in no way saying that anyone who is mentioned here is truly racist. I have no idea what they actually believe or what they may just say for "shock value."
Going back to the 2022-23 championship game, I did not particularly like Reese’s behavior. It seemed to be rude to me instead of just making the gesture, she, also, followed Clark a bit while doing the action. I still am not a fan of it because it felt a little excessive in the moment. However, I don’t think it was 100% appropriate for Clark to do it multiple times throughout the tournament (which I did not know happened until long after the tournament). I think there is a difference between a pre-planned celebration meant to show off and a genuine expression of excitement. I think Clark’s original celebration was most likely genuine, but every time after was a showoff move. When Reese’s expression was, also, meant to show off and direct taunting of another player. It has NOTHING to do with race. It is simply rude to taunt the opponent. Especially, at the end of the game when you are nearly 20 up in the last minutes of the game. However, it is not okay to vilify either woman for these actions. Neither one cheated, intentionally hurt an opponent, or destroyed the game in any way. Neither woman deserves belittlement because of these actions.
Now if we move on to this year’s tournament, I think people are wanting race to be an issue. These people making these comments seem to be intentionally stirring a pot. The focus or “story” about these women should never be about how their race raises or diminishes their ability to play the game. We have had enough issues in this world we don’t need to intentionally and incorrectly compare these women based on the color of their skin.
If you agree with me, let me know! If you disagree with me, let me know, too! Share your opinions on the situation!
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