The Ride

By Sheryl McAlister

It is doubtful Malcolm Gladwell was thinking about women’s college basketball and a 22-year-old girl from West Des Moines, Iowa, when he introduced us to the tipping point – “that magic moment when an idea, trend or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips and spreads like wildfire.”

Welcome to Caitlin Clark and women’s college basketball in 2024.

So many good players. So many talented coaches. So much excitement and opportunity around NIL (Name, Image, Likeness), the new ruling that allows college athletes to benefit financially from the use of their names. The context for the game has shifted. The girls are making money alongside the boys. The girls are playing on ESPN and replayed into the night. The girls’ game is aggressive, fast, loud.

Surely, this is the moment in 1972 that the founders of Title IX dreamed of – even if they didn’t know what it would look like.

The moment when equity became tangible. Real. And on full display for a sports media that has gone hog wild for the women’s game.

Yes, the men have a Final Four. UConn and NC State are playing in it. I only know that because their women are also playing in a Final Four. I’m sure they are fine, young men playing. I just don’t care.

The spotlight found Clark early on, but I honestly hadn’t paid much attention until last year. I had long ago moved away from watching women’s hoops on tv. But the past 2 years have changed that for me. For many of us. The talent on teams across the country has improved. The games have become exceptional. Even little Presbyterian College – the smallest Division I school out there – made history by winning the first round of the NCAA tournament and advancing to the biggest game of their lives – playing the University of South Carolina on USC’s home court.

PC was never going to win that game. But it didn’t matter. The Blue Hose had made it farther than the school ever had before. And the experience meant so much, the PC coach asked the opposing coach – Dawn Staley – to speak with her team as inspiration. Damn. We have definitely come a long way, baby. (For those who don’t remember the Virginia Slims reference, Google it.)

Watching the games with my sister, Marsi, has been great fun. She was a helluva player back in the day. Generations away from the girls playing now, she still has a keen appreciation for the nuances of the game – analyzing a certain pass or movement away from the ball. We both picked Iowa to upset USC in 2023, which Iowa did. An unpopular choice in this part of the country where Staley is a god. But this Clark kid…. She was something special. And everybody knew it.

I thought Iowa would beat LSU last year for the title, but that didn’t happen. This week’s rematch confirmed who the better team was this time around. And LSU coach Kim Mulkey’s words rang true, “I sure am glad you (sic) not coming back next year.”

Mulkey went on to talk about the great ones. The ones who make everyone else around them look good, too. Clark has allowed all of us to come along for this incredible ride. We spectators relish opportunities like this.

This era of the women’s game is everything. Controversy around players who trash talk and play physical. Who cares? It’s fun to watch. Controversy around the new NIL agreements that pay athletes for their name, image and likeness? It’s business. The transfer portal – I hate it. But it is what it is.

Clark has even managed to make State Farm Insurance ads interesting. Sorry, Jake, from State Farm. But you are about as interesting as the khaki pants they have you wearing.

The hater comments? Just green with envy. From pioneers in the game who want to debate who was/is/will ever be … the best? Hate to break it to these women, but that’s why you’re called pioneers. You were among the women who had stellar careers. In your time. In your way. And you helped pave the way for others the way women before you paved your way. Sure, it would be fun to see some of the past greats play in this day and age. To see if they could keep up.

But that’s not the way time works. Or fairness.

Which brings us back to the here and now.

As I watched with my sister, it was fun to see her mind — as a former D1 athlete — working as the games unfolded. She remembered the great ones she admired. And she remembered some of the greats she played against back in her day. And then she said after Iowa beat LSU to move onto the Final Four: “It’s like this was meant to be.”

Whichever way it all plays out, Clark has brought us all to the party and invited us to come inside. Whether you’re pulling for her or not. I’m pulling for her. For Iowa. For all the marbles.

We shall not see her like again.

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Copyright © 2024 Sheryl McAlister.

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Photo credit: The Associated Press.