How’s everyone’s weekend going?
Thanks for spending a portion of your Sunday with the Six.
Let’s get right to it.
THE HARDEST JOB FOR CAITLIN CLARK ISN’T BASKETBALL
America is and will always be a strong and robust country, with no better place in the world to achieve dreams, regardless of background.
But there are segments of our population that can’t accept that fact. They are hellbent on diminishing, or erasing altogether, accomplishments and triumphs; at war with abundance and prosperity, preferring we as a collective wallow in scarcity and social reparations.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the entirety of 2024, you’ve heard of Caitlin Clark. The Iowa women’s basketball star is the best story in all of sports: she’s a winner, the GOAT, and remarkably so, portrays a humble girl-next-store image, who, other than being 6-foot tall, looks not dissimilar to the teenaged babysitter who played Legos with your 7-year-old last Saturday night.
Monday night, Clark reached a milestone dreamt of by all young athletes yet achieved by few: she became a professional, drafted No. 1 by the Indiana Fever of the Women’s National Basketball Association.
The events of the evening and subsequent days should have been a celebration, a coronation of sorts, of the next great American Athlete.
Yes, there was some of that. But we also got predictably stupid behavior from reporters and media outlets practicing the go to narrative that infects our mainstream media today: reparations journalism.
(I wrote about this a few weeks ago, how one way to measure a sport’s relevance in our culture is social currency. How many articles/comments/tweets on the subject have nothing to do with basketball? In that vein, the women have landed the plane and are taxiing to the runway.)
Not soon after the draft, the Axios newsletter published a story with the headline “One NBA benchwarmer will earn more than Caitlin Clark's entire team.” The story lede dropped a graphic that contained a shocking revelation: that men professional players make more than women.
Sweet Jesus! How did this happen?
The article did a more meta breakdown of the pay gap, stating how Clark, the overall top pick, is guaranteed a $76,000 salary this season while the men’s top pick pockets $10 million.
It didn’t take long before the data got grist through the identitiarian mill and spit back out as social commentary by such noted women’s basketball fans as the “Today Show” hosts and our President, Joe Biden.
Hona Kotb, the whiney anchor on “Today,” made this highly astute comment:
I don’t care about math right now. The number one draft pick in the NBA, number one draft pick, first year. Ten million. This is like picking at an old scab for many women…This is what society says that’s what that’s worth
I don’t watch “Today” but my assumption is that Kotb couldn’t care less about the WNBA. She’s likely never been to a game. She’s obviously not interested in researching basic numbers that would show the NBA averages over 18,000 fans a game while the women draw around 6,500 or how the men outdraw the women in television ratings, the most glaring reason for the pay gap.
But, in the “Today” show host Kotb, we’re not talking about a rational person here. She’s going to use her sizable platform to advance another agenda, irrespective of reality.
Speaking of disparate realities, we have Biden. Later in the day Tuesday, this tweet got spit out from our 46th President’s TwitterX feed:
“Fair” share? So paying Clark the same amount as the men although her league makes far less money, is fair?
As the old saying goes, fair is where you put a blue ribbon on a pig.
In the private sector, the marketplace dictates value. With professional basketball, the marketplace has determined men earn more than women. But Biden and legacy media subordinates like Kotb choose to ignore this core American value. They subsist in identitarianism, where value is based on gender or race.
None of this ideological gibberish is good for women’s basketball or for Clark. She can’t just play basketball and have her athletic performance speak for itself. While her success has brought her fame and fortune (yes, she is rich!) it also comes at a cost. She is the Chosen One, a vanguard for the reparations jackals and equity hustlers who will not leave her be.
Part of Clark’s appeal is her wholesome, indifference to the noise. She takes everything in stride and does so with a smile and selfie for all. We believe she actually enjoys the interaction with fans and the press, not doing so out of grudging obligation. But that could change. There are already warning signs.
As part of her post-draft media tour, Clark held a press conference in front of local media that will be covering her in Indianapolis.
Gregg Doyel, a columnist for the Indianapolis Star, flashed a heart symbol in Clark’s direction while introducing himself (Clark is known for giving the symbol during games while at Iowa). Clark responded to Doyel’s heart flash gesture by saying, “do you like that?”
Doyel then said: “OK, well, start doing it to me and we’ll get along just fine.”
This is how a grown man introduces himself to a 21-year-old in a professional setting?
The exchange had nothing to do with politics but with sexism. Young men don’t have to deal with creepy middle-aged female reporters flashing heart symbols at introductory press conferences. But women do. We apparently as a society haven’t moved past such crude acts of ignorance.
I am rooting for Caitlin Clark. I am rooting for women’s basketball, more so than I ever have in my lifetime.
But if I had to give Clark any advice, I’d tell her buyer beware, to harden her skin. The social grifters are out of the woodwork and have zero interest in how well she shoots, passes or rebounds. In the words of the singer Don Henley “this is the end of the innocence.”
You’re not in Iowa anymore, Caitlin.
Let’s proceed with the Six.
1. Education Leaders Seek Funding For Migrants.
We long suspected the main reason for open boarders was not an idealistic one, but of pragmatism. Public schools, especially in well-populated urban cities, have classrooms filled with empty seats. That’s not good for business. In Illinois, the majority of the 62,000-plus student-eligible age “newcomers” that have entered state schools over the past two years attend Chicago Public Schools. But, according to this article from Capitol News Service, there are almost 13,000 enrolled in other districts. And they need money. Lots of it.
2. Why Big Cities Miss Newspaper Columnists.
This piece from an outlet called Vital City focuses on former New York-centric columnist Jimmy Breslin. But if not a native New Yorker, the essay is relevant as the writer—Harry Siegel—laments the lost art of influence-wielding via newsprint. Writes Siegel: “A columnist is—or was—out endlessly, talking to people all over the city and writing every other day or even more frequently, climbing tenement stairs while giving a platform to people who’d otherwise be lost in the crowd.” That sentence—especially that was—is a requiem for every city without a columnist. Chicago hasn’t had a legit daily newspaper Breslin-type since John Kass. Neil Steinberg doesn’t count.
3. The Family Who Vanished Into The Bush.
We like our true crime here at the Six and this week, we find one worthy of reposting. This dispatch via Slate comes from New Zealand, where the disappearance of a father and his three young children triggered a massive search, followed by a nationwide conversation about parenting—and followed yet later with sad twists and remaining questions.
4. Why Bill Belichick Couldn’t Find A Job.
After almost a quarter century in New England and winning six Super Bowls, NFL coach Bill Belichick “separated” from the Patriots in January. Not retired, it was believed Belichick would be the most sought after coaching free agent on the market. Events did not pan out that way as the future Hall of Famer had serious interest from only one team, the Atlanta Falcons (who eventually passed). What happened? ESPN goes deep with the almost Shakespearean discourse Belichick’s availability caused within the Falcons.
5. The Rise And Fall Of The First Golden Bachelor.
From the intrigue caused by a sports divorce, to one of pop culture. Earlier this year, a spinoff of the popular Bachelor series, The Golden Bachelor, saw a pair of grandparents marry. Barely enough time lapsed for the wedding certificate ink to dry before the couple announced they were divorcing. What happened? The Hollywood Reporter presents a timeline of events. Maybe the couple wasn’t entirely truthful with each other, maybe acting for the sake of the cameras? Hate to be cynical in the face of “true love” but is anyone really that surprised? The network appears ready to move forward with another spinoff, The Golden Bachelorette, where a dozen 70 year old guys will vie for the affections of a equally elderly woman. The heart medication jokes should make for high comedy.
Cats are having a moment in Hollywood, appearing in central roles in films like The Marvels, A Quiet Place: Day One and Argylle, as well as television shows and more. Two practical reasons for the renaissance stand out: CG animation gets better very year and animal handlers are getting better at working with cats. Here at the Six we thought what’s a great cinema moment involving cats? This movie clip features a brief cat cameo but it might be one of the most famous scenes involving a furry feline.
Thanks for reading everybody and have a great rest of your weekend.
Have a suggestion for The Sunday Six? Send email to jonjkerr@gmail.com.