The Hyball: Put Every Caitlin Clark Game On Television

By Bobby Loesch on February 10, 2022 at 12:00 pm
Are You Not Entertained?
© Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK
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The Hyball is a weekly Iowa men's basketball column

BTN+ isn't real. They literally made it up. Just let people have Iowa women's basketball.

What else has to happen? What else does she have to do?

Because she does the most. Always.

This is KD at Texas. Zion at Duke. Sabrina Ionescu at Oregon. So why the fuck are we sheltering the world from this awe inspiring greatness?

Exciting, right? Wanna watch, right? Wrong.

Two of Iowa's last three conference games have not been televised as the Big Ten Network opted to shove them behind a paywall in their new money grab app. Meaning, you can pay for their network and still not get to watch Caitlin Clark bomb threes and dish dimes on the reg.

It's getting very, very difficult not to slam the gender inequity card firmly on the table. And it's not just BTN.

The Yahoo! Sports app provides virtually no in-game information when the Iowa women's team plays. DraftKings lists two sections in their app: College Basketball, which means "only men's games," where it lists all the props and lines and parlays for the day's slate. In the College Basketball (W) section, you get exclusively futures odds on the eventual champion -- that's it. No games. And because of their longshot title odds, Iowa women's basketball literally does. not. exist. on their app.

You can't even follow the money in this situation. Because they don't let you.

And while we're throwing up middle fingers:

Still not remotely over it.

This tweet is posted below, but I'm happy to link it twice. The women's game can and will grow, and it's so fucking disappointing to continue to see these dumbass hurdles put in place by clueless executives who don't know a basketball hoop from a briefcase full of undeserved cash.

You know who belongs on BTN+? Nebraska, Minnesota, Maryland, Penn State, and, yes, sometimes the Iowa men. Not Caitlin Clark. Not Queen C. Our fucking assassin. Our pride.

Because she's too consistently transcendent -- and you're too deserving to be deprived. We can't Watch Caitlin Clark Play Basketball if you don't let us.

The Hyball

"The worst part of losing your voice regularly is not being able to talk even though you love to talk."

Last Week

2/2 - Iowa at Ohio State (16): Postponed.

2/6 - Iowa 71, Minnesota: 59: A back-on-track Keegan Murray (24 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists) is always welcome. J-Bo shot 28% from three and scored 6 points in 36 minutes, while Payton Sandfort notched 5 points in 10 minutes. Hmm.

This Week

2/10 - Iowa at Maryland: We come in as 3.5-point road favorites, which, OK, cool.

2/13 - Iowa vs. Nebraska: Bleh.

Caitlin Corner

Enjoyed this Chad Leistikow piece; it's loaded with anecdotal stuff, but the stats spoke the loudest volumes.

After scoring 43 points Monday against Ohio State, she completed the month of January having averaged 30.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 9.1 assists per game — a feat last accomplished in the NBA (which plays 48-minute games instead of college's 40) in 1989, by none other than Michael Jordan.

She recently became the first player in Division I history — man or woman — to record back-to-back stat lines of 30-plus points, 10-plus rebounds and 10-plus assists. In a subsequent trip to Penn State, Clark set the Big Ten Conference regular-season record for assists in a game (18).

Earlier this season, she became the fastest player in Big Ten history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. It took her just 40 college games.

Team goals remain the top focus:

But getting back to what drives Clark: team success. When she committed to Iowa and many times since, she has boldly stated her intent to lead the Hawkeyes to the program’s second Final Four and first since 1993.

That remains her No. 1 goal. She and her teammates have three more chances to do it. (Yes, she plans on staying through her senior year before pursuing a pro career.) March Madness is just a month away.

“People still probably roll their eyes even if I said that now. I don’t really care,” Clark said. “It takes a lot to go to the Final Four. We’re not oblivious to that, at all. The stars are going to have to align. You’re going to have to have a little luck with it. That’s just how the NCAA Tournament works. You have to get a good draw. But if you’re playing your best basketball in March, anything can happen.”

And what about when the brilliant passes don't always lead to buckets?

Clark deserves credit, too, for knowing that the best path to team success is by getting everyone involved and taking personal accountability. She had 11 turnovers in a recent win at Northwestern. She's not perfect.

“That’s something coach Bluder preaches on: ‘If they don’t catch the pass, just take the blame. It’ll make them feel better. They’ll catch the next one and score for you,’” Clark said. “That’s been a big area for growth for me.”

Listen, I was at that game; like, maybe two -- three, tops -- were her fault. What a great attitude for a team leader to have. Can't always be easy.

Clark also spoke of wanting to grow the game:

It’s equally impressive to see how Clark handles life off the court. She is excellent with media. She stays late after games for kids who want to meet her. She states that she wants to help increase excitement for women’s basketball. With those qualities, it’s no wonder that Hy-Vee — which sponsors world-famous superstars like Patrick Mahomes — in October made Clark the first college athlete it partnered with in the new era of name, image and likeness, where college athletes can profit off their fame.

“I do enjoy (the attention), because one of my goals is to inspire the next generation," Clark said. "I’ll always take time to sign kids’ autographs after games. … I feel like I was just in those kids’ shoes.”

If that's the case, the trend line looks quite promising:

* * *

Sconnie section begins with a rise and fire:

This went down in 32 fuckin' minutes.

A dime to keep everyone involved:

Then Kate Martin says "I, too, can flashy ass pass":

Exquisite.

Please take notes, football and men's basketball. What a world this would be.

* * *

For those who don't have stupid BTN+, some stuff from last night:

It's not the step back. It's not the distance. It's the casualness of the step back from that distance. Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeesh.

We shoulda just gotten Dave to go live at that thing.

Brad Davison Is Definitively A Senior.

OK, that one just impresses me. MJ-like presence.

Obligatory Michigan Section

I will miss Josh Gattis and badly wish Harbaugh left instead.

The Mini-Hybrid

Is this the greatest college football take of all-time?

Bill Walton's Dave Pasch's Western Civilization 
No Context College Basketball

OK, this one does have context: JoJo is fucking awesome. Back to the actual topic:

haha

/eyes widen

Wrapping It Up...

My brother-in-law already owns that dinosaur costume; I wanna recreate this so badly. I shall be Benny The Bull. My wife? Mikal Bridges.

Bobby Loesch is a weekly contributor to Go Iowa Awesome. Follow him on Twitter @bobbystompy or email to bobbyloesch [at] gmail.com.

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