Thank you, Caitlin Clark for saving me from pillow fighting

It’s that time of year again.

I’m not talking about warmer weather, buds on the trees, green grass, or even the blooming daffodils. No, I’m talking about the end of the college basketball season. When the thrills and chills of logo threes, buzzer beaters, and passes that defy physics give way to me, mindlessly scrolling through the Hulu TV guide searching for something, anything to watch besides baseball or collegiate softball. If you’re a regular reader of my column, you know that I loathe baseball. It’s slow and boring. Seriously, no sport should ever be associated with hot dogs. It’s like someone asked, “How can I take the feeling of filling out FAFSA forms and parlay that into a sport?” That’s baseball for me.

To be fair, what I’m truly lamenting isn’t just the end of my sports-watching season until Iowa football kicks off this fall, it’s that my favorite player of all time is leaving my favorite team. But here’s the good news: she’ll be taking her skills to the WNBA.

Yes, I’m talking about the one and only Caitlin Clark.

What I also appreciate about #22 is that she will allow me to continue to watch my favorite sport this summer (the WNBA season runs from May to September) and NOT have to resort to ESPN8 better known as The Ocho to avoid all sports involving a ball, bat, and a very slow pitcher. Thank you, Caitlin Clark.

I’ll be the first to admit that I know next to nothing about the WNBA. I’ve never watched a single game. I’ve heard of a few players but I had to Google “Top 25 WNBA players” to learn more names beyond Diana Taurasi and Elena Delle Donne (no clue which team either of them plays for). Ever heard of Sabrina Ionescu? How about A’ja Wilson? Jonquel Jones? Nneka Ogwumike? Nope, me neither. Now I’ve heard of Brittney Griner, also on this list, but not because of her basketball prowess but that’s another story. These women are some of the top players with impressive stats. How about this question: How many teams are in the WNBA? My first guess was 10. It’s 12. Without looking it up, right now I can name three teams one of which is where Caitlin is going – the Indiana Fever. The other two are the Las Vegas Sparks and the Chicago Sky. Wrong. I just checked and it’s the Las Vegas Aces. The Sparks are out of Los Angeles. Now I know four.

If you are reading this and are a WNBA fan, I sincerely apologize for my ignorance. It’s just that I had no reason to watch professional women’s basketball until now. Honestly, I’ve considered it a token organization, established to appease those crying foul that a women’s pro league didn’t exist and thereby the NBA stepped up and subsidized the operation. In my opinion, the WNBA isn’t the same as the NBA; it’s an entirely different game in speed and physicality. Nothing wrong with that, it just is and why we have have men’s sports and women’s sports.

But hey, I’m willing to forgo my past assumptions, right or wrong, about the WNBA and check it out. Maybe I’m late to the party and jumping on the Caitlin Clark bandwagon like millions of others (18.7 million tuned in to the championship game versus South Carolina). So be it. I’m just thrilled to scroll on by The Ocho because I simply can’t endure the Masskrugstemmen Stein Holding Competition (again), the Microsoft Excel World Champion-ship (NOT a sport!), professional pillow fighting, Slippery Stairs, river stone skipping, or Corgi racing. Wait a second…I’d watch Corgi racing. Anyway, the point is, I can now watch Caitlin do all she did as a Hawkeye only now she’ll be playing for a different team with other talented professional players. This should make for exciting basketball and fill my time between rounds of golf, my other summertime activity. Only what I do on the course isn’t what golf should be and may be the next “sport” you’ll find on The Ocho this summer. It’s called, “World Cup Championship Little White Ball Losing,” and for those watching, it’s very entertaining. For the players, not so much. But in my defense, I’m a pro at it.

Go Fever!