Two basketball players entered the league after storied collegiate careers. They'd tangled in the NCAA Tournament, got a ton of publicity for their battles. One was a flashy playmaker who legitimately changed how the game was played in material ways. The other was a frontcourt player with a robust all-around game. One was a child of the small-town Midwest, the other came up in a tough city. Oh, and one was white, the other black. They didn't much like each other, at least at first, though they came to first respect and then admire the other's skill and competitive fire. Together, they helped catalyze rapid growth of the pro game.
We won't know for a while if we're also talking about Angel and Caitlin, at least in terms of long-term legacy, but the first impressions aren't unkind to the comparison. Reese and Clark don't seem to have a lot in common as people, one with a sophisticated personal style and fierce on-court persona, the other matching the on-court grit but rocking a very different fashion vibe. The media's made a thing of their alleged enmity, though both players have gone out of their way to offer respect, if not necessarily warmth, to the other. And with much due respect to A'ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart, Alyssa Thomas, and Sabrina Ionescu, among many others, the pair are likely to be the brightest lights in the WNBA firmament for the next decade.
All we ask as fans, other than good health for both players, is a remix of this gem:
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13 comments:
the new york jets are bad at football, but there are lots of worse teams. they fell to 2-3 on the season on sunday after losing to the minnesota vikings in london. they famously employ a 40 year-old quarterback with the legs of a 68 year-old dentist. during their loss to the vikings, lebanese-american head coach robert saleh wore a lebanese flag patch on his sweatshirt in the wake of israel's bombing of the country. today, he was fired. i find this timing...curious.
I know of a coach who is intimately familiar with the jets' division who would never do such a thing.
my wife and i are planning a trip at the end of the month with some friends to celebrate our 25th anniversary and a bit of personal/professional good news. original plan was to go to asheville. for obvious reasons, we've changed course. added an 'n', scrapped an 'e', and are headed to nashville instead. welcome any and all recommendations, food and otherwise, in that good town.
Saleh was 18-33 as the Jest's coach. Watching them play football over the past three years was like getting a thumb in the eye over and over. He didn't give two shits about the offense. The team needed a change and he was the easiest change to make. I don't think his Lebanese ancestry has anything to do with his team's poor performance or his bad record.
i don’t, either. but that’s not the point.
i'm not even saying he was fired because he displayed the flag, just that the timing is suspect. the jets are bad, but they're also currently one game out of first place in a crap division and in the middle of the pack in the crap afc.
qb1 may not have been down with that display of ancestral solidarity.
as of today, whit and i both have 23 year-old kids. functional adults. fucking wild, the passage of time.
True dat. Krazy.
RIP Luis Tiant.
Oh yes, I’ve been listening to his work for years.
Rob- re: Nashville I highly recommend Monell’s in germantown- good for brunch/lunch. Bring your appetite. Noshville has a good diner breakfast. Excellent potato pancakes and bloody Marys. Brown’s diner looks like a shithole but has tasty burgers. Martins bbq in nolensville is legit. And there’s always princes hot chicken if you want the original Nashville hot chicken. It’s not in the best past of town- so I’d go in the daytime.
Check the calendars at the ryman, station inn, bluebird cafe or exit inn to see if anything looks interesting to you. Enjoy!
awesome, lumpy - thank you!
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