Monday Musings – 25 March

I’m not much for jumping on the bandwagon of the latest celebrity athlete. I’m probably the only sports fan in America that is not in awe of Tiger Woods, LeBron James, or Shohei Ohtani. But I must admit that I enjoy watching Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark. I have been a fan of women’s college basketball for several years as my enthusiasm for the men’s game has dwindled. Women players stay in school long enough for me to learn their names. For many of the college men, it’s one year and done. They can’t wait to turn pro.

The women’s game is just plain fun to watch. It is more finesse and less muscle, more pick and roll than slam dunk. In the women’s game, it’s the impossibly long-range 3-point shot, the no-look bounce pass to the teammate breaking for the basket, and the 3-on-2 fast break that ends in a slick reverse layup. And it doesn’t hurt to have a generational player like Caitlin Clark who takes all of that to the next level—a Pistol Pete with a ponytail. I haven’t enjoyed watching basketball this much since I watched Bird and Magic go head-to-head more than 30-years ago.