CC provides needed moment of ecstacy

Superlative talent

We're in difficult times for people who simply want to report the truth. It should not be a heavy lift to do that. The truth about how the U.S. is operating on the world stage. Or, the truth about how the U.S. government is affecting its own citizens right here. Are there any other stages I should mention? 

I will counter this down note on this Wednesday morning with a note of true joy. I aspire to feel such even when storm clouds are out and about. And my joy was lifted with the Caitlin Clark heroics at the end vs. the Washington Mystics. A script of perfection as if it was a movie. No need to rely on Hollywood concocting something like in "Hoosiers." The "real deal" was Caitlin Clark making a long 3-pointer right at the end to give her Indiana Fever the win over the Mystics. 

The highlight video ought to induce joy at the highest level. Thanks to YouTube we can watch it repeatedly, endlessly. 

Clark is the epitome of someone operating "in the arena" with all the scrutiny that so often turns negative. Remember, we in America like to build up our heroes and then tear them down. Let's say we relish the revelations about a famous person showing their human failings. An equalizer? This principle was displayed in the Woody Allen movie "Zelig." It's an underrated film IMHO. 

Clark has not been the endless highlight reel as a pro, as she tended to be in college. At Iowa. I suspect she has the savvy to fully understand the reality of her changed surroundings. Yes the pros were bound to challenge her talents more strongly. She is no longer playing to overcome the guards of Northern Iowa or Drake. 

She has had injury misfortune probably because of her own failure of judgment at times. She should not have tried to "bulk up" for her second season in the pros. Not such a simple solution of course. Yes she was playing in a more rugged environment than before, but bulking up left her more injury-prone which left us bereft of the pleasure of watching her play. 

She has done a turnaround and decided to be light and fast. She isn't totally free of the injury distraction and this worries me. But she is in fact playing. She knows the challenges are more rigorous than what she ever had to deal with in college. Cheryl Reeve of our Lynx is bound to cook up a strategy with effectiveness vs. her, in all likelihood. A commentator the other day said of our coach Reeve that she night be "the best coach in all of basketball." There, see how far women's basketball has come? 

Reeve has our Lynx looking mighty good but what did you expect? And here I have to show humility and candor and admit that I can only name one Lynx player off the top of my head: Natasha Howard. I always have to smile at the name "Natasha" because it reminds me of the old "Rocky and Bullwinkle" cartoon show. I laughed when I read a movie critic criticizing the accent of an actor by saying that it reminded him/her of "Boris and Natasha" from "Rocky and Bullwinkle." 

I apologize for being behind on following our Lynx. It's just that I assert without any guilt or hesitation that CC is totally special, unique. Some will say that CC being a white girl is a reason. I'm not admitting to that, I'm just saying that some will assert this. On a subtle level this might actually be true: we are attracted to our own kind as a matter of reality, n'est-ce pas? 

If CC disappeared from Indiana and Kelsey Mitchell became the high-scoring star, would the Fever have anything close to this ebullient mass following? Well I guess it's a sad answer to this question: "No." 

I of course am anything but a racist. Nor am I homophobic. Yet I'm sad as I realize the preponderance of gays or lesbians in women's pro basketball. I find it distasteful but I try to understand. Be tolerant. That's more than you can say about a lot of churchgoers out here in rural Minnesota. Look how organized religion has been disrupted by "gay rights." And I have been sticking to my family's ELCA of the Lutheran faith which has alienated so many, so many who have quit and found their own refuge in places like Good Shepherd Church of Morris. These people will say they left their regular Lutheran churches because those churches were "not following the Bible." You can find quotes from the Bible to justify almost anything. 

I try to ignore the lesbian reputation of the WNBA and root for its continued growth. No one has done more for this than Caitlin Clark. As our nation tumbles under the recklessness and meanness of the president, we can find joy in the highlight reel stuff that Clark gives us. The ending of the Fever vs. Mystics game was a godsend in this way. It was absolutely classic Caitlin Clark. God bless that moment. Bless the sheer talent and charisma this girl possesses. 

We balance that with the anger we must feel about how the Trump forces will likely try to "J-6" the mid-term elections. And I do think this is likely to happen. There should be more judicial restraints and guardrails but those have fallen off. 

Can God even save us? Are the Good Shepherd people saying the appropriate prayers? Well obviously not. It's to the contrary. They want their orange god to prevail even more. I can try expressing caution but it surely seems to no avail, pilgrims. Heaven help us all? Well I certainly hope so. Let us root heartily for CC. And, for Kelsey Mitchell. And Aliyah Boston.

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - musicstuff54@gmail.com