[Mick]

I've been following all the comment and couldn't figure out how to say what I was thinking, that there are good reasons for Clark to not be on the team, for someone else to have the place. (I certainly did NOT feel that way when Nnecka was left off. She SHOULD have been on the team. And in 2012, when Candace Parker was the star of the team with Gino as the coach, and he didn't start her, wow, was that dubious.) But yesterday, at last I read something that pulled all my feelings together very well, Ann Killion's opinion piece in the SF Chron -- see link below. To sum up, Ann says it's the right decision, and goes into the reasons way. Well worth reading.

https://eedition.sfchronicle.com/html5/r...8125c4f85b 

BTW, we were in Atlanta for the 1996 Olympics and attended every one of the women's BB games. We also had tix to the men's gold medal game. Gave them away, not interested.

Read it twice. Interesting reading. Let me see if I can sum up the key points (it's behind the Chron firewall):

1) CC is not good enough, she's not even the best rookie.
2) CC is too tired and the Olympics are a grind.
3) CC is too young and needs to wait her turn. She hasn't paid her dues like Nneka who was snubbed anyway. 41 year old Diana Taurasi has paid her dues so deserves a 6th Olympic team.
4) True, the WNBA derived immense popularity from CC's arrival...but they're going to have that popularity with or without CC on the Olympic team.
5) It would be embarrassing to have CC: on the Olympic team because she'd ride the bench (there's 13 players on the team...someone is going to have to ride the bench. Maybe eight someones...).
6) Despite the enormous upsurge in attendance and viewership, CC has been portrayed as a savior for a sport that didn't need saving. They had enough eyeballs and didn't need any more. With CC on the team, there would have been more coverage but the Olympic team didn't need it.
7) CC talks too much, there's been too many talking points. She's tired, she's played too many games. That might actually be true, says Ann.
8) Ann writes lots of gratuitous anti-fan comments re: recently arrived fans who became fans because of CC. Let's see...
 - Most of it coming from people who have never previously bothered to pay attention
 - Anyone who has been paying attention for a while — which eliminates about 90% of the outraged —" (two anti-fan in the first three paragraphs, WOW)
 - Newly minted women’s basketball evangelists
 - A question for basketball devotees, not the newcomers who only know Clark’s name
 - One of the previous CC talking points — in a nonstop stream of them
 - Clark has been portrayed as a savior of a sport that didn’t need saving

Overriding theme: Caitlin Clark has to pay her dues and needs to sit down and shut up...and so do the "fans" who arrived recently. They're not wanted or needed.

And I liked your final comment, WBB, on the tix to the men's gold medal game. Gave them away, not interested. Seems apropos here.

[Mick]

I've been following all the comment and couldn't figure out how to say what I was thinking, that there are good reasons for Clark to not be on the team, for someone else to have the place. (I certainly did NOT feel that way when Nnecka was left off. She SHOULD have been on the team. And in 2012, when Candace Parker was the star of the team with Gino as the coach, and he didn't start her, wow, was that dubious.) But yesterday, at last I read something that pulled all my feelings together very well, Ann Killion's opinion piece in the SF Chron -- see link below. To sum up, Ann says it's the right decision, and goes into the reasons way. Well worth reading.

https://eedition.sfchronicle.com/html5/r...8125c4f85b 

BTW, we were in Atlanta for the 1996 Olympics and attended every one of the women's BB games. We also had tix to the men's gold medal game. Gave them away, not interested.

Read it twice. Interesting reading. Let me see if I can sum up the key points (it's behind the Chron firewall):

1) CC is not good enough, she's not even the best rookie.
2) CC is too tired and the Olympics are a grind.
3) CC is too young and needs to wait her turn. She hasn't paid her dues like Nneka who was snubbed anyway. 41 year old Diana Taurasi has paid her dues so deserves a 6th Olympic team.
4) True, the WNBA derived immense popularity from CC's arrival...but they're going to have that popularity with or without CC on the Olympic team.
5) It would be embarrassing to have CC: on the Olympic team because she'd ride the bench (there's 13 players on the team...someone is going to have to ride the bench. Maybe eight someones...).
6) Despite the enormous upsurge in attendance and viewership, CC has been portrayed as a savior for a sport that didn't need saving. They had enough eyeballs and didn't need any more. With CC on the team, there would have been more coverage but the Olympic team didn't need it.
7) CC talks too much, there's been too many talking points. She's tired, she's played too many games. That might actually be true, says Ann.
8) Ann writes lots of gratuitous anti-fan comments re: recently arrived fans who became fans because of CC. Let's see...
 - Most of it coming from people who have never previously bothered to pay attention
 - Anyone who has been paying attention for a while — which eliminates about 90% of the outraged —" (two anti-fan in the first three paragraphs, WOW)
 - Newly minted women’s basketball evangelists
 - A question for basketball devotees, not the newcomers who only know Clark’s name
 - One of the previous CC talking points — in a nonstop stream of them
 - Clark has been portrayed as a savior of a sport that didn’t need saving

Overriding theme: Caitlin Clark has to pay her dues and needs to sit down and shut up...and so do the "fans" who arrived recently. They're not wanted or needed.

And I liked your final comment, WBB, on the tix to the men's gold medal game. Gave them away, not interested. Seems apropos here.