NIAGARA FALLS, NY – Happy Monday! Finally nice to get a full week of school out of the kids. It was a busy weekend of news, but some overshadowed others for me. With that, here are my topics for today’s article: NY Mets Update, Caitlyn Clark WNBA Haters, Raven Johnson.
NY Mets Update
After starting the season 0-6, 0-5 the Mets have gone 7-3 and are only one game under .500. In addition, they are 3rd in the NL East. What has been more impressive is after losing the series the Tigers, the Mets won the series against the Reds in Cincy, shockingly took the series in Atlanta, and now bested the Royals. The bats have woken up a bit and the pitching is holding on. Witness Jose Butto throwing seven six strong innings, Sunday, winning a pitcher’s dual. Doc Gooden was on hand to watch, as his number was retired. If this team can stay competitive until they get JD Martinez and Kodai Sanga Sengaback, there might be a chance they make the playoffs. They are showing loads of resilience – and that is rare for a Mets team.
Caitlyn Caitlin Clark WNBA Haters
There seems to a lot of WNBA players hating on Clark and this new generation. I am not just taking about Sheryl Swoopes, I’m referring to Diana Taruasi and Becky Stewart. It is weird to hear how the old guard looks down on Clark, Angel Reese and Kamille Kamilla Cardoso. However, this is wild to me because it is these young players – especially Clark – that are gonna draw more eyeballs to game and grow it so the #WNBA minimum salary increases and maybe they stop flying Spirit Air.
I bet the league will fix the draft. (The NBA [allegedly] does it from time to time, Ewing to NY, Hardaway to Orlando, Wenby to San Antonio). Reese goes to LA, since it is a star-driven city. Cardoso will probably end up in Minnesota, while we all know Clark will be going to Indy with the first pick. I think Indiana winning the lottery was the fix because that is the perfect landing spot for a player like Clark. The WNBA will cash in on the excitement of these young ladies and if the old guard don’t like it too bad. Get down or lay down, Sunshine.
Raven Johnson
Sticking with woman’s basketball, following South Carolina winning the title, I read a very interesting story about SC guard Raven Johnson. Last year when Iowa knocked out South Carolina, a key aspect of that was that Clark was guarding Johnson and you can find game footage of Clark giving space to Johnson, daring her to shoot. Johnson didn’t have an outside jump shot, so it allowed Iowa to defend and double team the other key scorers. Johnson took that loss hard, but to her credit she didn’t moan about it on TV or social media. She took to working on her game by shooting 200 three-pointers a day including after practice. She also studied Clark relentlessly to make sure next time would be her time.
So the final came on and Clark had 18 points in the first quarter. Johnson was begging head coach Dawn Staley to put her in the game. Staley finally gave Johnson her chance in the second quarter. With Johnson on her, Clark had 12 points the rest of the way, and Raven’s newly-discovered 3-point shooting spaced out the floor. That made the Gamecocks harder to defend and helped them win the title. Full credit to Johnson for just keeping her head down and working hard. It is almost a forgotten art in this day and age. Also credit to Staley for recruiting and coaching up a player like that.
Thanks for reading and come tomorrow to hear from the Connecticut Sun aspiring Fan Club President, Ben Whitney.
