Five-ring circus: The Thread of the XXXIII Olympiad

I figured there would be plenty of anticipation for Paris, but I also think the ability for athletes to compete as pros for an extended period of time - not to mention the somewhat generic look of 90 percent of the venues, makes the Games seem like "repeats" year after year.

 

We watched the event a couple of weeks back and it was pretty clear that she was done for.

 

She fell twice on the uneven bars, no?

 

Yup, and didn’t finish.

 

Sources: Clark left off USA Basketball roster

Lotta middle-aged Twitter users with goatees and sunglasses railing about this move today, especially since they appear to be giving a Lifetime Achievement Award to Diana Taurasi and a bunch of other America-hating lesbos like Brittney Griner.

I fear that Clark is going to be yet another log on the fire of the culture wars, as she's straight (dating Fran McCaffrey's son, even), a practicing Catholic and from a red state.

What if, after going full bore through the season in Iowa into immediately getting beaten on by everyone in the WNBA, everyone just gave her a break? She very well may be one of the 12 best Americans but she may not be one of the 12 best choices right now. Gonna make a comparison. In 2004, immediately after his first NBA season, USA Basketball shoved LeBron on to the Olympic team where he averaged 5 points in 11 minutes on a team that got embarrassed. The 48 Special didn't come until his fourth season. It's OK to let Clark grow.

 

Ope, sorry for not checking the WNBA thread.

 

It's amazing how Trumpist sportscasters are lining up behind Clark, who has given no indication that I know of that she wants to be dragged into anything. Trumpist Tim Brando and Linda Cohn are up in arms over the alleged exclusion of a professional rookie who isn't close to being one of the top five guards in the US of A.

 

I mean shoot, they put Cameron Brink on the 3x3 team, that might get more eyeballs than the womens team.

 

She's the white kinda gal for their audience.

 

Christine Brennan with what I think is a mind-blowingly bad take: To summarize, the United States is going to win the gold medal by a country mile with or without her, so USA Basketball should feel obligated to include her because she is currently highly popular and would increase the sport's profile. And she hasn't been the only one in this vein. I can't quite figure it out other than maybe we have some people who are, in the journalism parlance "rooting for their stories," because they don't want to spend a month in France tip-toeing around the same culture war debates regarding race, sexuality, etc? No idea.

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I have a weird relationship with high-level women's basketball. I don't hate it by any means, but I don't really love it. I've flown hundreds of miles on relatively short notice to cover it (in Division II) and enjoyed the experience greatly, but there are any number of women's sports I'd happily watch (and will absolutely watch) on TV (volleyball, tennis, softball) either in the Olympics or not before I'd be super-invested in women's basketball. I think part of it is that it's much more 'two-dimensional' than the men's game, or for that matter, volleyball. I think part of it is that the Detroit Shock didn't get a lot of statewide distribution up to the U.P. when they won three WNBA titles in the 2000s before moving, of all places, to Tulsa? Michigan went 21 years without winning an NCAA tournament game from 1990-2011 and had never reached the Sweet Sixteen until 2021.

Caitlin Clark is kind of a parallel feeling for me. She is clearly a very good basketball player who can shoot from nearly unlimited range and is an excellent passer, and yet sometimes I feel like the only person on the planet who does not have an extreme opinion about her game and her cultural impact. So she and Angel Reese had beef at the Final Four? Just two athletes being competitive. That girl on Chicago cheap-shotted her? Yeah, probably should've got teched up, but rookies get roughed up in every sport around the planet.

In a way, I think whoever is doing her marketing is a real star here, because I can't think of a male athlete picked No. 1 overall since at least the pandemic who has been in nearly as many conversations about everything as Caitlin Clark. As I said this afternoon, I suspect Clay Travis and the Blue Check Brigade are so wild about her because she is a straight white practicing Catholic from middle America, and you can make a decent living these days as a sort of celebrity for the anti-woke and catering to their desperate need for validation from famous people. But it's not like she's been going to Trump rallies or 'backing the Blue'. I'm not sure if I've heard her answer a question that wasn't about basketball. Then again, after 15 years of Aaron Rodgers, I don't really mind. And I don't think Christine Brennan or Linda Cohn or whoever count as Fox News contributor types. I think there are a lot of people on the left who have been idolizing her the last couple years too, probably for being incredibly talented, confident about that talent and assertive. Nothing wrong with that.

And, if we can veer briefly into the gutter, it's not like she's a sex symbol or anything. Looks are alright, but if we were picking on that, we've got Cameron Brink (also straight) over here. She's pretty good too. Curious to see how that game translates to 3-on-3, but that's probably a good marketing move on her part to get her out of the Clark orbit.

Let's get back to the question at hand. I think you could certainly justify picking her for the 2024 Olympic team, but she'd be a luxury, trotted out for spot minutes or blowouts against Angola. Not that I know her physical condition, but I bet three weeks off would be better for her, even if it lowers everyone's Q rating and nets Christine Brennan fewer clicks. Clark is 22, and if her body holds up, can probably play in 3-4 Olympic cycles (and the next one is in LA). It's gonna be OK, people, sheesh. I'm told she's an avid golfer. Maybe she can go to Pebble or Pinehurst or St. Andrew's and enjoy herself for a week or two. Damn.

 

I'm a rare longtime Fever fan and I'm glad she got left off. She clearly needs the rest - as most rookie starters do at this point - and barring injury, she should have plenty of opportunities in the future to play in the Olympics.

 

The argument in favor of her is basically that she’s not one of the 12 best now, but she’s good enough and will draw eyeballs. I see it, but the fact that her exclusion has immediately become a right wing talking point tells you everything that you need to know about our culture of perceived grievance. It allows a certain segment to root against 2 US women’s teams at the Olympics.