00:00Let's talk about Caitlin Clark and all the conversation about her that everybody is chiming in on.
00:07If you hadn't seen the footage from earlier this week, it was a game against the Phoenix Mercury
00:15where it looked like a couple of uncalled cheap shots, including a blow to the throat from Alyssa Thomas,
00:22resulted in a retroactive flagrant foul and a one-game suspension, which came down for Alyssa Thomas.
00:28Folks were really honestly shocked to see Caitlin Clark at the bottom of that little scrum
00:34and have Alyssa Thomas, it looks like going to the neck and kind of driving her into the ground.
00:40And a little groin punch as well.
00:42Yes, and a groin punch as well.
00:43It's a two for Tuesday.
00:44And this goes back to this notion of that the WNBA is not doing enough to protect Caitlin Clark
00:50or that the backlash from other players against Caitlin Clark.
00:52Listen, let's just talk about some absolutes, okay?
00:56And I don't pretend to be an expert on the WNBA or the skill level and the greatest players of
01:00all time
01:00or if Caitlin Clark is a top 5, 10, 15 player, although she's having a very good year
01:05and she certainly has stepped up on all these nationally televised games that she's a part of.
01:11Caitlin Clark's emergence at Iowa was possibly the greatest one-person show
01:22in terms of changing a sport in the history of sports, okay?
01:27Now, Bird and Magic are credited in 79-80 for coming in and saving the NBA
01:31that used to play their NBA Finals game on tape delay
01:34that was riddled with drug scandals throughout a certain period.
01:37And we all understand how impactful that was.
01:40Michael Jordan, they took the brand of the NBA to the next level.
01:44Insert, I don't know.
01:45That, to me, is the best example of certain people and it's the same sport, right?
01:50I don't think the NFL was in the doldrums.
01:52I guess Joe Namath winning coming out of the AFL and, you know,
01:56them being able to win a Super Bowl was a big deal, I guess it is, or other moments.
02:00But Caitlin Clark took a sport that had mild interest and blew it up.
02:07Caitlin Clark blew it up to a level that is absolutely unfathomable
02:12that they had 18 million people watching their national title game
02:15and they beat the men's game.
02:16You know the men's game?
02:17Duke, Carolina, Arizona, Michigan, Connecticut, NBA players.
02:24You know that?
02:25Well, they were behind the women's final
02:28and I think the semifinal did the same thing.
02:30And then Caitlin Clark got to the WNBA
02:32and is the reason why there are private planes for every WNBA player
02:37and a reason why there's a huge contract
02:40that all the girls got in the new collective bargaining agreement
02:43and also why they have nationally televised games at the level
02:47and why they're, you know, packing the house at State Farm Arena, okay?
02:52Like, now, we all know the undertones there
02:56of this little white girl from Iowa
02:58taking over a largely predominantly African-American sport
03:01and gaining more love.
03:03And, of course, that was a factor in the obsession with her.
03:06How is this young lady, you know, transcending the sport?
03:10So there's a backlash there.
03:13And there's been an enormous backlash, you could argue,
03:16that is on the undercurrent, not so much an undercurrent
03:18over the last year or two, right?
03:20And why are you taking your most marketable, valuable asset,
03:25by far the most visible, most highly marketed athlete
03:32in terms of, you know, dollars spent by major sponsors?
03:35Why are you not taking better care of her?
03:38And then there's a poster promoting the WNBA
03:41with 20 different players, and Caitlin Clark is not in that group,
03:49which that seems absolute ridiculous to market the league
03:53without marketing her, but then news comes out last night
03:55that maybe she wouldn't have given...
03:56Darren Revell is posting the reason is that Caitlin herself
04:00took herself out because she only allows Nike for name and number,
04:05and so she has made this choice.
04:07I can't get that verified.
04:08I'm looking up for some credible...
04:10That wouldn't make sense, would it not?
04:11Yeah, because it's actually real stupid on WNBA part
04:16if they didn't have her in there.
04:17It's ridiculous if you have 20 players promoting the league
04:22in a poster, and she's not one of them.
04:24It made absolutely no sense, which is why when Darren Revell...
04:28And the timing of it, which was literally a day after this flagrant foul
04:32and the whole thing, neck move.
04:34Here is Caitlin Clark's coach after the game,
04:37and then an absolutely aggressive take from somebody in New York
04:42we'll get to in a second, but here is Stephanie White,
04:45her coach, talking about it.
04:46I mean, the fist in the throat is crazy.
04:48It's crazy.
04:49It's dangerous.
04:50The landing spot, when you went to review it,
04:53and she still comes down on top of another foot,
04:56like, I don't know.
04:57Because to me, that's like a do-over on a test.
04:59How do you screw it up again?
05:00You're coming in here aware of what happened two nights ago,
05:03and that still happens?
05:06Absolutely unacceptable.
05:07Absolutely unacceptable.
05:09And the reckless closeout that they actually reviewed,
05:12and the foot still comes down on top of the defender's foot
05:15that wasn't upgraded?
05:17Absolutely disrespectful.
05:19Yeah, so, as any good head coach should do,
05:22taking up for her player,
05:24it was one of the more egregious scenarios.
05:27Now, again, you could argue,
05:28I don't know if they went to the replay during the game,
05:30but certainly the one-game suspension seems, you know, appropriate.
05:34Yeah, it took them too long to decide that, in my opinion,
05:36because if you don't have eyes, I don't know what was taking so long.
05:39And I also thought they saw which way the wind was blowing,
05:42which was absurd, the backlash for it.
05:46It was egregious.
05:47So then there's Boomer Esiason,
05:49who happens to be, I guess,
05:50on the number one sports morning show in America from a local level.
05:55It's WFAN.
05:57It's New York City.
05:58It's home of Mike and the Mad Dog.
06:00You know, it's these big, you know, monster station.
06:03Boomer's a national figure.
06:05So, you know, listen, he may lean too far the other way of, like,
06:10the whole world should be Caitlin Clark and, you know,
06:13everybody else lucky to be living in it.
06:14Here's Boomer Esiason, some stuff he said yesterday morning.
06:18If I were Caitlin Clark,
06:19I would seriously consider going to play overseas somewhere
06:22and get the royal treatment and get real money.
06:25From the Saudis?
06:26From somewhere.
06:27I mean, there's international money.
06:27She can't go to the Saudis.
06:29Well, she can't go to the Russians either,
06:30as we saw that, you know, Brittany Griner got stuck there.
06:32She did, well, yeah, in jail.
06:35Right.
06:35Can't take that money from PIF.
06:37But a lot of the women actually do play, you know,
06:39in European leagues because they supplement their income.
06:42But now, supposedly, their income is going up here.
06:45And I know that Caitlin makes a ton of money off the court
06:47in terms of endorsements, and rightfully so.
06:50But I think that there's a petty, petty jealousy.
06:53And she's a straight, white basketball player.
06:57And she is not being treated with any sort of respect whatsoever.
07:03Absolute 100% there's a petty jealousy.
07:06I don't know if it's because she's a straight, white woman or that, you know,
07:12listen, in any profession.
07:15I see Tiger, take a man's profession.
07:17The Tiger Woods, the jealousy,
07:19and everything that was going around Tiger at that level
07:21when he was just it and everybody else was a second thought.
07:25Well, however, well, first of all,
07:27Tiger Woods was a lot better than Caitlin Clark.
07:29In his sport.
07:30Yes.
07:31Tiger Woods was a lot better than Caitlin Clark.
07:33And that's where part of the jealousy and backlash is, is, you know,
07:37is she getting treated like the greatest player in the league?
07:39No, she's getting treated like the biggest celebrity because she is.
07:45And I guess maybe the disconnect between Tiger Woods clearly changed the sport
07:50because of his abilities and Caitlin Clark changed the sport
07:53because certainly her abilities got her team to the, you know, finals two years in a row
08:00or whatever it was, right?
08:01So, or just played in the biggest games ever in women's college basketball,
08:05but that she didn't separate herself from her competition.
08:10So, you know, more than any sport I've ever seen,
08:14there is that backlash of jealousy, whereas, you know,
08:18you can't tell people it's human nature how they should feel, right?
08:22I can't tell people how they should feel, but I would encourage the young ladies
08:26that have this massive jealousy, the media is obsessed with her, yada, yada.
08:31All she's done is put a ton of money in your pocket, make you way more relevant,
08:37pretty much kept her mouth shut.
08:39Yes.
08:40Is she a little bit bratty on the court?
08:42Okay.
08:42You know, give me.
08:43She's a lot a bit bratty.
08:44She is not this meek, demure, young, woe is me.
08:47She's a very strong, aggressive, powerful woman.
08:51Why should she be demure?
08:52I mean, you know, like everybody's gunning for her.
08:55So does she?
08:57Listen, she, I don't know that she's ever admitted she actually caused a foul.
09:01I mean, she, with the arms up on every call.
09:03So there's two sides of this in terms of she's, she's not trying to be a victim.
09:08She's not trying to be woe is me.
09:09And is petty jealousy part of it?
09:11Absolutely.
09:12Because she has all the money.
09:13I mean, in terms of what she's getting on her endorsements more so.
09:18I mean, so I get all that.
09:21But listen.
09:23Would you say that exact sentence to a male?
09:25Would you say that to a Tom Brady?
09:27Would you say that to a guy?
09:29Tom Brady.
09:31Would you say, you know, they're very jealous and petty around Tom Brady?
09:33No, I don't think they are.
09:35I don't think they were jealous and petty around Tom Brady.
09:37You know what I heard most?
09:3890% of every NFL athlete say he's the GOAT, which he was.
09:42They said the same about Tiger Woods.
09:44He's the GOAT, which he was.
09:46She's not the GOAT.
09:47That's the problem is that she's the biggest celebrity, but she's not the best player.
09:52Tom Brady, of course he's the best player.
09:54He's got seven Super Bowls.
09:56Tiger Woods won how many majors at what age?
09:59They were clearly separated from anybody else.
10:03They had the same celebrity.
10:05Petty and jealousy happens in sports with whoever gets a star and the biggest bag of money.
10:11Whoever's got the biggest bag of money, there's a...
10:13By the way, this radio station, sports radio, name your business.
10:18There is petty jealousy inside your office.
10:20There is.
10:21I don't think Tiger Woods got petty jealousy.
10:24I think folks thought he was a jerk because he kind of was, but he kind of separated himself
10:29from everybody else on the tour.
10:30But they were grateful that the tour numbers had never looked bigger.
10:34The sponsorship numbers had never looked bigger.
10:36Golfers were a lot smarter than WNBA players.
10:39WNBA players, you're acting dumb.
10:41Revel in Caitlin Clark.
10:43Embrace Caitlin Clark and be grateful because let me tell you something.
10:47David Stern and Adam Silver kept your league afloat for 30 years.
10:52Okay?
10:52WNBA, it's not like you were generating a ton of audience or money or revenue.
10:57Now they are.
10:59And it's not a coincidence that's because Caitlin Clark is there.
11:03Now, you may not like what it says about America that Caitlin Clark became the, you know,
11:10the person that had to get you there.
11:12She's the face of the WNBA.
11:15And if you want to call it because she's a white, straight female, and that's where petty jealousy.
11:20And that's where.
11:20It's a shame on this morning that we're not talking about this young lady, Marina Mabry,
11:27who, by the way, shot 53 last night, tying the WNBA record.
11:319-3.
11:32She put on a clinic last night for Toronto.
11:34We're not talking about that for a lot of reasons because we're not talking about the WNBA.
11:37Expect when it comes to this petty garbage that, once again, is surrounding women,
11:42which really just jars my sight.
11:45But nobody cared about the WNBA before Caitlin Clark at the same level.
11:48I don't want to let people mad at me.
11:50I don't want to.
11:50Listen, you know, you weren't selling out State Farm Arena.
11:54I promise you that.
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