|
(Photo: FIS)
2. Who's the best 1-on-1 player in the world? 🏀
The Unrivaled 1-on-1 tournament started yesterday — and there have already been some wild upsets! Aliyah Boston and Breanna Stewart have been knocked out! The first round had to be condensed because of injuries!
The rules are simple:
-
First to 11 points or whomever's winning at 10 minutes
-
Player who scores keeps possession
-
Survive & advance
-
$200K for the tournament winner 💸
WATCH: Rounds continue tonight on TruTV, with semi-finals and finals on Friday on TNT
Why Caitlin Clark turned down an NBA All-Star invitation
The NBA All-Star weekend starts this Friday and last year Steph Curry v. Sabrina Ionescu drew viewers back to an event that had seen declining ratings over the last few years. Viewership for the All-Star contests peaked at 5.4 million during the 3-point match-up.
And, so, this year the NBA was hoping to replicate that success by inviting Caitlin Clark to a 3-point contest.
But she said: Thanks, no thanks.
Clark, instead, said she'll enter her first pro 3-point contest at this summer's WNBA All-Star weekend in her home arena in Indianapolis. For the star, it makes sense: She'll be able to use her celebrity on her home turf to continue to bring in new fans to the WNBA. Plus, part of the reason she wasn't competing in Unrivaled right now was because she wanted a break!
In short: The NBA needed Caitlin Clark more than Caitlin Clark needs the NBA.
3. The women of the Super Bowl
Turns out the NFL finally realized what a lot of us already knew: 47% of their fan base is women and girls.
The ads
And, so it was no accident this year that a number of splashy Super Bowl ads were aimed at women. From the NFL's own ad promoting flag football as a varsity sport for girls to Nike's ad featuring exclusively female athletes.
Given the Nike's treatment of women, we want to hope this is a step in the right direction!
The hard-working staff
We also love to see the historic all-women management team of MVP Jalen Hurts & the female staff behind the scenes, like Eagles' assistant performance coach Autumn Lockwood (who became the first Black woman on the sidelines of a Super Bowl two years ago), the Chiefs athletic trainers Julie Frymyer and Tiffany Morton, and the Eagles' director of football operations and pro scout, Ameena Soliman.
The wives and girlfriends
A lot has also been written this year about some of the highest-profile women at the game: a new generation of WAGs (wives and girlfriends), who are building their own enterprises and forging their own paths. From social media influencers who are bigger than their NFL husbands to fashion businesses to podcasts hosts to investors in their cities and regions.
Though, as has been pointed out: There's still something very traditional and staid when the most prominent women's roles at one of the country's biggest sporting events are on the sidelines. No matter how it's packaged.
From Out of Your League:
"[Taylor] Swift’s problem, like that of every men’s sports WAG, is one of normativity. In the NFL’s vision of America, a woman should be situated by a man's side. She rarely coaches a team. She certainly does not play on the field. Her place in America’s most popular sport is as a cheerleader or as a WAG in the most literal sense of the word. No matter how many businesses a WAG starts or how many charities she runs, she still embodies a heteronormative idea of family and a woman's place in society. Her ability to leverage her place to find personal success is impressive, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t a tool for the patriarchy. She is still seen, first and foremost, as some guy’s wife." |
