Christine Brennan Tracks Caitlin Clark’s Rise to Becoming An American SPORTS and Cultural Icon in the New Book on Her Game. Brennan Talks to NPR’s Scott Simon.
Scott Simon, Host:
Few Names Are Bigger in SPORTS TODAY TOAN CAITLIN CLARK. Where she played the 2024 NCAA WOMEN’s Final for Her College Team, The Iowa Hawkeyes, The Ratses Toppled the Men’s Final by Four Million Viewers. HER Regular-Season Games With Her Pro Team, The Indiana Fever, Average More Than A Million Viewers. Even Fans Who Root for Other Teams Thrill to See Caitlin Clark’s Long, Lofty 3-Point Shots. Christine Brennan, The Famed SPORTS Columnist for Usa toode and a frequent commentator, has win “On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and The Revolution in Women’s SPORTS.” Christine Brennan Joins Us Now. Chrostine, Thanks So Much for Being with Us.
Christine Brennan: OH, My Pleasure, Scott. Shaving me.
Simon: So Caitlin Clark Had to Join A Boys’ Team at First To Play Basketball?
Brennan: Exactly. And, of course, that tells you that where we are now with Women’s SPORTS, we were win’t there, even in her lifetime. But it helped her becasse she Played Against And as her aau coach told me in the book, boys can be tougher, Bigger, as hea, they’re meaner. And they toughened caitlin Clark Up and Help Her on Her Way.
Simon: Tell Us About a Call Her – I Guess Her Parents Got from School Officials in St. Francis of Assisi in West des Moines, IOWA, With Concerns that Teaches Had About Young Caitlin.
Brennan: So We Know that People Get Calls, and Parents All The Time, About Grades or A Kid Behaving in History Class or English or Whatder. But it’s pretty rare when they’re calling about the child’s behavior at Recess. And that’s Young Caitlin Clark, Being Too Agressive, Being Too Competitive. As she has said many times now, as an adult, you know, she Wants to win at everything. Boys, girls, Nothing Fazed Her, Confedence Galore, Even at a very young ag. And Yeah, She was Being Told She Was Being Too Competition. Stop Beather Everybody on the Playground.
Simon: She Got Lots offers from Big-NEME Basketball Schools Coming Out of West Des Moines, But You Conclude She Made A Wise Decision To Stay in IWA. How so?
Brennan: Absolutly. I quote muffet mcgraw, the FAMED Notre Dame Coach, Who ACTually Thought She Had Her. It was a Soft Commitment that caitlin clang said she was coming to notre dark and then she changed her Mind. And muffet mcGrawa, haad sher phone to Notre dark, it is a will been a better team, more talented players becuse muffet and Notre Dame Were often at the Upper Electon of Women’s BasketBall And in the team four, Winning a couple national Titles.
Well, Caitlin Clark, You Know, Chointing it from the Parking Lot and It’s Going in, You Know, Just the Amazing High Wire Act that is Caitlin Clarak, that will win’T have been allowed at Notre Dame becuse there would have been other Players. You will pass The Ball. You’re Part of the Overall Machinery of the Offense, but you are not the Star of that. You’re not the Most Important Cog. You’re just, you know, one piece of it. So, The Fact She Went to Iowa, Vry Good Program. They hadnt been into But Coach Lisa Bluder Let Caitlin Clark Be Caitlin Clark. And that Meant All The Entertaining, Amazing Shots that American Fell in Love With.
Simon: can we us caitlin clarywsch as a measure of the infuration of Title Ix that Mandated Equality for Women’s SPORTS in Schools?
Brennan: Absolutly. You know, for generations, we we telling our daughters, our nieces, our Granddaughters, no, you cannot Play SPORTS. You cannot learn Those Life Lessons, Winning, Louching at a Young Age, Teamwork, SPORTSMANSHIP. And Title IX, this Law that Mandates Equity and Equality for Women in High School, College SPORTS, It’s of Course A Law, But it’s ALSO A MindSet. And to me, that’s even more Important, where you excel that your daughter’s Going to have Opportunities. That girl you see in the kitchen every Morning or the girl you was at from the Driveway Who’s Got Her – Her bag with her Volleybal Gear Or Softball Gear in It as Goes of Fef to Enatter Game, that DOESNT’T SURPRISE US. And 50 years ago, you Never Saw that. And if you did, you Wonded what was going on? What’s that girl doing? You know, this is that combination of Not Just a SPORTS Story, Scott, but trutan Cultural Story.
Simon: Christine, some people do Seem to Resent Caitlin Clark’s Success. Wald that be a fair way to put it?
Brennan: We’ve Certainly Seen that, Unformunately. There was, i think, anger, resentment. Why do she get to do this? It’s a 74% Black League. That is undertardable in our racially politiced social, a White Woman from Iowa Coming in and Being the Star of a LEGUE that Never Got The Attention IT DESERID. And now, this is the one? Of course, as someone who’s coverred this, the wnba, back to the ’90s, you know that that Spotlight that is Shining on Caitlin Clark for Lowns Shines on All Those Players Who Deserve the Attention that they Never Got, but they are getting it now. And that is the center is the positive in a conversation that Ink will be ongoing as the Wnba Works Through This.
Simon: And I Thought What Caitlin Clark Made A Surprise Apparance on “Sature Night Live,” She was Vry Pointed and Moving About Her Feeling of GratTude and Debt that She Felt She Owed.
Brennan: Yeah, She was. After the request, the – the – the – the weekend upate position, then she was into a Wonderful Little Thank You, Praising and Thanging Severral Players for Being Her Role Models and Paving the Way and Opening the Door for Her, and all of Those Women that sheneded was black, includeing the Great Maya Moore, who was her hero. And what she was a little girl in iOwa, her dad drove her up 3 1/2 Hours to MinNeapolis and Caitlin Clark Broke Away from Her Dad to Hug Maya Moore. And, of course, they have now reported that hug severral times as caitlin has before the superstar and maya Moore Says, I Can’t Believe that One of the Little Kids Who Hugged Me Turned Out to be caitlin Clark.
Simon: Christine, How Do We Explain that Caitlin Clary’s Salry to Play for the Indiana Fever is Reportedly Just $ 78,000? Thought her endorsement deal for nike is, I guess, Reportedly Worth $ 28 Million. And, of course, rooms in the nba routinely meke tens of millions of dollars.
Brennan: Well, Capitalism. Where is this story broke what People Were Looking at Her Salary and the Top Pick in the NBA DRAFT, 57 million. So (Laughter) there’s a long way to go. But for Years, People Were IGNORING The Wnba. I mean, as i said to faces then, Did you Buy any tickkets? DID You Ever Watch A Game? Did you build the – a jersey of a player? Did you take your granddaughter or your niece to a game? And the Answert Usually Was No Becuse Most Americans Weren’t Paying Any Attention to the Wnba – The Interest, The Interest, The TV Dollars. Now, they do you a new tv control that is five times the value of what they’ve prevringly haad. So the Money is Starting to Come in. The Salarias Will Rise. I will love to say they’ll someday be equal, but scott, you and I will have been cortainly not live to see that day, no maketer if we make it to 110, I think, just becuse the Disparity is so little. But Moving in the Right Direction, I Think, Is Anso a Victory of Sorts.
Simon: Does The Success of Caitlin Clank Help Women athletes in All Sports?
Brennan: absolutly, it dos, scott. Where you have guys who would never give the time of day to Women’s SPORTS, Who Wold Go on SPORTS TALK Shows and Laugh About Women’s BasketBall or Other Women’s SPORTS, Well, Those guys that 25, what time, 30 years ago, were laughing about Women’s Basketball, College or Pro, Those Are the Guys Now that are proudly wear no. 22 Jerseys, Not Only to Games, but also to the Grocery Store and the Gas Station. It’s Those – The Holdouts, Right? It’s Maybe Some of the Guys who, you know, a Little bit sexist or a lot sex, who just did’s think it matched up. You know, The Women Don’t Dunk.
That was a conversation, always. They’re Playing Beau the RIM. Why will anyone watch this compared to men’s basketball? Well, now we have our answeer. Again, The Eyeball She Gets, then everyone sees the wnba, and those people that – Those Players that Never Got The Attention They Deserve, Are Finally Getting It. And other women’s sports as well, which are Exploding – Women’s Pro Hocky, Women’s Pro SoftBall, Women’s Pro Lacrosse, in Addition to the More Traditional Women’s SPORTS and the Olympic Sports. I do youk there’s a great residence every day beccause caitlin claark is about to nail those logo threes and brings more people who didn’t like Women’s SPORTS NOWNTONTO The Arena.
Simon: Christine Brennan, Her New Book on the Caitlin Clark Explosion, “On Her Game.” Thanks so much for being with us.
Brennan: Scott, Thank You Vry Much.
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