Howard Bryant predicted this would happen on a podcast with Bomani Jones. He was describing female reporters like Brennan who have been in this business so long see Clark as their way of cashing out. Who knew he was talking about Brennan
Gannett, which is the bottomest of the bottom-feeding vulture capital journalism models, ALWAYS does this when journalists are accused of bias or unethical behavior.
It's definitely disappointing to see Brennan's coverage of CC, especially since I had enjoyed a good bit of her stuff from back in the day. That said, I'm sure it's easy to get caught up in the wave of (insert whatever word you want) that a player like CC brings. Still! None of the takes from Brennan have seemed objective at all, and come off as some sort of parent protecting their child thing, as if Caitlin needs any kind of protection whatsoever🫣
Thank you for this incredible piece. I feel like I learn a massive amount from your writing not just about sports, but also about media ethics and the kind of journalist I want to be.
Christine Brennan's agenda is pretty clear. She's trying to poke wherever she can, to get material for a book, on who's she thinks is the savior of the WNBA. It's so odd to be seeing all this now though ,, when I also remember how insanely hyped Sabrina Ionescu was, yet, I don't remember seeing this kind of narrative being painted.
A BOOK DEAL FROM A CONVERSATION ABOUT LITERALLY NOTHING SOMEONE ELSE HASN'T ALREADY SAID? AND YOU CAN'T EVEN GET INTERVIEWS ON YOUR OWN? Sorry. I'll just be over here processing all of that for like a month.
Thank you!!! This was such an affirming statement about the past two years. The coverage of Clark, to the dismissal and marginalization of the other players, is a disgusting representation of the racism and homophobia in our culture. All the players are harmed, including Clark, when journalists and “fans” use these tropes to “protect” her from the rest of the league. These amazing women are athletes and deserve our respect and admiration for the energy and spirit they bring to every game.
I think the most generous reading of what she is doing is thinking she’s helping basketball by centering Clark the same way bird and magic got centered in the 80s. Of course, nobody was going up to Kareem and Robert Parrish asking about how Larry legend was going to save their sport.
People who believe in saviors are most likely to join cults, which never goes well. Glad to see the 144 are standing up for themselves and the truth. Putting Clark on a pedestal, especially at the expense of the players whose shoulders she stands on, is not good for basketball, women's sports, or even Clark herself. Let her play without the racist/sexist invective of the warped troll minds. She is joining the WNBA, not becoming a messiah. There was a league before here and there will be one after.
There could be Whiteness...when whiteness stops being based on subjugating others in order to maintain its power...until the culture moves away from oppression, hatred and ignorance...whiteness deserves the lower case.
Not bias in the capitalization? Pearls are being clutched.
That capital B is necessary to specify that a People and it's culture is being respected and represented. The lowercase w is to signify the small and narrow mindedness of an oppressive ideology that lost its rights to humanity through centuries of hatred in abuse.
Ah yes, nothing says "respect and representation" like punishing people you hate because of what [some of] their ancestors did - all the while ignoring the millennia of *hatred in abuse* done by those across the ocean...
Howard Bryant predicted this would happen on a podcast with Bomani Jones. He was describing female reporters like Brennan who have been in this business so long see Clark as their way of cashing out. Who knew he was talking about Brennan
Gannett, which is the bottomest of the bottom-feeding vulture capital journalism models, ALWAYS does this when journalists are accused of bias or unethical behavior.
It's definitely disappointing to see Brennan's coverage of CC, especially since I had enjoyed a good bit of her stuff from back in the day. That said, I'm sure it's easy to get caught up in the wave of (insert whatever word you want) that a player like CC brings. Still! None of the takes from Brennan have seemed objective at all, and come off as some sort of parent protecting their child thing, as if Caitlin needs any kind of protection whatsoever🫣
This is my favorite Substack. That is all!
Thank you so much!! What a nice thing to say 😭
Thank you for this incredible piece. I feel like I learn a massive amount from your writing not just about sports, but also about media ethics and the kind of journalist I want to be.
That's a huge compliment, thank you so much.
Christine Brennan's agenda is pretty clear. She's trying to poke wherever she can, to get material for a book, on who's she thinks is the savior of the WNBA. It's so odd to be seeing all this now though ,, when I also remember how insanely hyped Sabrina Ionescu was, yet, I don't remember seeing this kind of narrative being painted.
Sabrina got injured three games into her rookie season. I have to wonder if that actually ended up saving us from a news cycle like this one!
A BOOK DEAL FROM A CONVERSATION ABOUT LITERALLY NOTHING SOMEONE ELSE HASN'T ALREADY SAID? AND YOU CAN'T EVEN GET INTERVIEWS ON YOUR OWN? Sorry. I'll just be over here processing all of that for like a month.
Thank you!!! This was such an affirming statement about the past two years. The coverage of Clark, to the dismissal and marginalization of the other players, is a disgusting representation of the racism and homophobia in our culture. All the players are harmed, including Clark, when journalists and “fans” use these tropes to “protect” her from the rest of the league. These amazing women are athletes and deserve our respect and admiration for the energy and spirit they bring to every game.
I think the most generous reading of what she is doing is thinking she’s helping basketball by centering Clark the same way bird and magic got centered in the 80s. Of course, nobody was going up to Kareem and Robert Parrish asking about how Larry legend was going to save their sport.
People who believe in saviors are most likely to join cults, which never goes well. Glad to see the 144 are standing up for themselves and the truth. Putting Clark on a pedestal, especially at the expense of the players whose shoulders she stands on, is not good for basketball, women's sports, or even Clark herself. Let her play without the racist/sexist invective of the warped troll minds. She is joining the WNBA, not becoming a messiah. There was a league before here and there will be one after.
> As a white person covering a predominantly Black...
You might be biased as well! Either we are White and Black, or white and black.
https://www.cjr.org/analysis/capital-b-black-styleguide.php
https://apnews.com/article/archive-race-and-ethnicity-9105661462
https://www.apstylebook.com/blog_posts/16
Go argue with someone else about it.
Lol. What absolute Marxist crap. If people can be proud to be Black (and write it thusly), people can be proud to be White.
There could be Whiteness...when whiteness stops being based on subjugating others in order to maintain its power...until the culture moves away from oppression, hatred and ignorance...whiteness deserves the lower case.
And clearly you ARE subject to me. You are a victim. You are less than. You are mistreated.
But who told you that? You need to be set free.
I love everyone, and I'm proud to be White. You can keep hating and calling it [well, whatever you call it - some sort of moral good, I imagine].
Not bias in the capitalization? Pearls are being clutched.
That capital B is necessary to specify that a People and it's culture is being respected and represented. The lowercase w is to signify the small and narrow mindedness of an oppressive ideology that lost its rights to humanity through centuries of hatred in abuse.
Hi! I blocked that commenter who was being racist and antagonistic. Sorry about that! I don’t have any tolerance for that kind of behavior here.
Ah yes, nothing says "respect and representation" like punishing people you hate because of what [some of] their ancestors did - all the while ignoring the millennia of *hatred in abuse* done by those across the ocean...