THE WNBA'S AUTHENTIC VALUE PROPOSITION.

Midday Saturday, and the Chicago Sky at Indiana Fever game was available on ESPN, which means on the cheapest version of cable pay-per-view.  The game might have been of more than passing interest, as Indiana's Caitlin Clark would renew her rivalry with Chicago's Angel Reese, while Chicago's Kamilla Cardoso would finally see action, playing against her predecessor at South Carolina, Aliyah Boston.

The opening few minutes of the third quarter, though, were an unedifying spectacle of turnovers and missed layups.  The most complimentary way the ESPN broadcaster could describe it was "sluggish start to the quarter."  Neither team played consistently, and the game was close right up to the end.

Then came the event that got the league back into the Culture Wars, just in time to ruin lesbian date nights all of June.

Here's an extended look at the Caitlin Clark - Chennedy Carter incident, there was more to it than the shoulder check and Clark was clearly talking to her on the way back up the floor from the prior basket by Indiana pic.twitter.com/1XG1RyzTw4

— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) June 1, 2024

Red State's Bonchie weighed in shortly after the final whistle.  "The WNBA Has Decided to Set Itself on Fire."  His verdict:

That's someone named Chennedy Carter deciding to take Clark to the ground while shouting obscenities at her. Despite how violent it was, the referees only called a common foul. Angel Reese, a former LSU player who hated Clark throughout their collegiate days, then met Carter at the bench to hug and congratulate her for delivering the cheap shot.

The talking points went out to Townhall Media and Fox News and right-populist talk radio.  David "Iowa Hawk" Burge got the best quip off, "I have never seen a group of people so determined to give up chartered jets to fly Spirit Airlines again."  It might be that his Iowa loyalties contribute to him watching the games.

Earlier this afternoon, Stephen "Vodka Pundit" Green weighed in, taking the Sky to task for not being ready to rumble.  (A basketball player, Draymond Green, also suggested the Sky get an enforcer.)

Watching St. Louis Blues games as a kid, a hit like that might have led to a bench-clearing brawl. At the very least, an enforcer would have been dispatched to teach a lesson about nearly cold-cocking a star player.

Men's hockey is not women's basketball, of course, but I have a bit of a tangent that does relate. The NHL did a great job cleaning up hockey in the '90s. In the '70s and '80s, the sport had become too much "boxing on ice" and not enough finesse. But in recent years they've taken it too far, and the game lacks some of the flair that makes it so great.

My best friend and I came up with an idea to fix that: bring back enforcers but with a twist. Let each team keep two dedicated enforcers on the roster, but they'd be limited to the amount of time they could play. Matt says five minutes per period, but I think two minutes would be plenty to settle any scores. Just the threat of having a couple of '70s-style brutes on the bench would improve manners without getting the refs overly involved.

I mention this because part of playing on a team is being part of a team and defending your teammates. Maybe that sounds stupid or redundant, but Clark got badly and blatantly fouled, and yet there was no team behind Clark to rally to her defense.

If WNBA players won't accept the presence of a talent like Clark, who has brought in more fans all by herself than most teams do — combined — then the league is condemned to permanent mediocrity as a collection of players who don't form teams.

WNBA fan or not, there's an undeniable thrill in anything — a business, a military unit, a sports team — when you get to see a team come together.

Nobody saw a team in Indianapolis on Saturday. I don't know if that's a sad commentary on the Fever or the WNBA in general, but it is sad.

There's likely more wrong with the Fever than Caitlyn Clark alone can fix.  As long as he's invoking hockey, I have to call attention to a delay of game penalty called "diving" that is enforced in the women's collegiate game.  In basketball, there is skill to the defender positioning herself to take the charge, and there is art in selling it.  I'm not sure how much of Ms Clark's defensive repertoire is skill and how much is art.  "With the Sky trailing by single digits late in the fourth quarter, Reese threw an elbow while boxing out Clark for an offensive rebound. Reese wasn't called for the foul, and Clark definitely showcased some acting chops by throwing herself to the ground."

They're not talking in Chicago.

Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter checked Caitlin Clark to the ground before an inbound play late in the third quarter of the Indiana Fever’s 71-70 win over the Sky at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday. It was called a personal foul without a review.

Carter declined to comment on the play after the game, and Fever head coach Christie Sides said the team intends to send it to the league for review, as it’s been doing throughout the season for plays the franchise thinks are fouls or should be upgraded.

The play was ruled an away-from-the-ball foul in a game Indiana led by four with 15.8 seconds left in the third. Clark’s single free throw off the call proved the difference in the Commissioner’s Cup opener. Carter, who scored a team-high 19 points off the bench, was asked postgame to talk about the play, what was said and what led to it.

Because there's nothing like working the refs, and if the WNBA officials come from the same talent pool that calls Mid-American games, the quality of officiating will be low.

Indiana had to play another game on Sunday, and their marquee players left it all on the court in a losing cause.  "Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston got hurt late in blowout loss."  Both players talked their coach into putting them back in in the hopes of inspiring a rally, only there was none forthcoming.  (Was Fever coach Christie Sides or Chicago White Sox third base coach Eddie Rodriguez guilty of the biggest error in judgement on Sunday?)

Today, after review, Chicago's players find themselves justice-involved persons.

The WNBA has fined Angel Reese and upgraded a foul by Chennedy Carter of the Chicago Sky after the team's dramatic 71-70 loss to the Indiana Fever on June 1.

Reese, 22, was fined $1000 for "failing to make herself available to the media for interviews" after the game, the WNBA said in a statement on Sunday, June 2, according to the Associated Press and The New York Times.

"In addition, the Sky organization has been fined $5,000 for failing to ensure that all players comply with WNBA media policies," the league's statement added.

The league has also reassessed a hard foul from Carter, 25, after she knocked Fever rookie Caitlin Clark to the ground in the third quarter. Carter was initially given a common foul away from the ball.

On Sunday, June 2, the WNBA announced that Carter's foul had been upgraded to a flagrant 1 violation after the league reviewed the play.

Whether people will watch the games for the turnovers or for the brawls remains to be seen.