Posted on 06/12/2024 4:01:54 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Does popularity overshadow merit in sports? This question has gained attention recently. Take Olivia Dunne, for instance. With 8 million followers on TikTok, surpassing even Beyonce, and 5.1 million on Instagram, she’s undeniably the most famous college gymnast, boasting a NIL value of $3.9 million. But is that enough for her to go to the Paris Olympics?
Most people would say no. Then why are people backing the WNBA sensation, Caitlin Clark? While she has pushed women’s basketball to the forefront, her popularity didn’t result in her selection for the Paris Olympics roster.
Some supporters believe Dunne deserves a spot on the Paris 2024 Olympics team, citing her potential to further grow the sport. However, detractors question this opinion after how she did not compete in the finals for LSU Tigers’ first-ever NCAA title in gymnastics. Now, with the exclusion of Clark from the Paris roster, debates have intensified.
(Excerpt) Read more at essentiallysports.com ...
If she sticks with boyfriend Paul Skenes, she won’t have to earn her own money. He’s #1 overall MLB 2023 draft pick, already looking good as a RH starting pitcher in the majors.
He’ll be making millions in a couple years, and sky’s the limit (barring misfortune).
“If she sticks with boyfriend Paul Skenes, she won’t have to earn her own money. He’s #1 overall MLB 2023 draft pick, already looking good as a RH starting pitcher in the majors.”
She’s already got about $3 million of her own money from endorsements.
She don’t need no man.
didnt she beat pistol pete’s all time scorign record or soemthign recently? Pete Maravich was a phenominal athelete and scorer-
yep- it was pete’s record- however, the amazing thing abotu pete was that he did that record number in just 83 games, she took 130 games to make that number- and another fact is that pete made the record scoring only 2 points per shot as there was no 3-point shots at that time- if there still were no 3-point shots= she woudl still be trying to get up to his record number and it woudl take more time/games to get there- His average was 44.2 points per game, and he was hitting a lot of baskets from what is now 3-point land- but again, they only counted as 2 points-
but still a great accomplishment by caitland-
I think the main difference is that the USWB team will run away with the gold with or without her, so concerns like increasing the popularity of the sport can play a bigger role in making up the roster.
Whereas women’s gymnastics is much more competitive and you really need the best medal hopefuls to try to win the gold.
I’m mean, by the time the Dream Team was playing in 1992, Larry Bird was probably not one of the 11 best players in the NBA due all the injuries his body suffered up until that point. They picked him because he was super popular and still a very good player, and the purpose of the Dream Team wasn’t to win a gold (that was given), it was to make the NBA more popular.
Time to vent!
Everything coming out from non Caitlin supporters is blowing smoke up skirts…
The USA Olympic team committee can’t justify placing Caitlin on the team because of her lack of a substantial “ body of work” in women’s basketball!
Don’t make me puke! Caitlin’s body of work just off the top of my head:
2nd place in the 2024 NCAA women’s championship
4 th place in the 2023 NCAA women’s championship
Women’s college all time leading scorer over Kelsey Plum
Overall college all time leading scorer over Pistol Pete
College 3 point season record holder over Seth Curry
US women’s FIBA TEAM as a starter in the U20 and U19 world cups (Same rules they play under at the Olympics)
Current WNBA top 15 in pts, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots THIS SEASON……
This young lady is MORE THAN QUALIFIED to represent the USA at the Olympics
Sure, the Maravich record, but I’m not concerned about that. She scored more than any other woman in history. That means something.
Is Olivia Dunne an Olympic Class athlete? That’s all that counts. If you aren’t the best, you don’t belong there. Forget sports entertainment; that’s the networks problem. The USOC’s problem is to take the best athletes in the country and have them compete for medals.
If we are more concerned about ratings than medals, we shouldn’t be competing. Want to do something with Olivia Dunne and Kaitlin Clark? Have them become commentators, extolling the virtues of the best of the best.
Umm...what were the charges?🤔
Yes, absolutely it does- I didn’t mean to diminish her achievement- it’s still an Incredible one. I guess I was trying to show that Pete had to get his record with 2 point shots only, and the amount of time he did it in was phenomenal- but so is Caitlins record for different reasons
Seems like a bad bet.
First, I reject that women's gymnastics needs help to push interest of the fans. Certainly in Olympic years, many fans are interested in gymnastics. I think Americans at least, have shown that they are very supportive of the young ladies on the gymnastics' team.
Olivia Dunne is gorgeous and she's been a great ambassador for her college, LSU and there's been fan interest wherever the LSU team traveled these past few seasons. She has millions of followers on social media. She is not however, an elite gymnast. She's athletic and graceful, but she does not have anything close to the routines that would make your jaw drop. I think she would fairly admit that; to my knowledge, she's never expressed any resentment that she was somehow overlooked. She's not even considered the best gymnast for LSU, much less in the Top 10 US gymnasts.
Caitlyn Clark was the all-time leader in points scored in women's college basketball. She likely holds other records as well. She WAS women's college basketball for the past couple seasons while playing at Iowa.
Clark now plays for the Indiana Fever, one of 12 WNBA teams. Arenas are at capacity wherever she plays, She's a great ambassador to the sport, she's well-spoken and single-handedly carrying the WNBA right now. She has multiple millions in sponsorship deals, worth far more than the paltry $90,000 or so that she receives in salary. It's not that the Fever are stingy, but there are league maximums that they can pay her as a rookie. Because there is typically little interest in the WNBA as a whole, the league doesn't make a profit. They're subsidized by the NBA, so they can't pay their WNBA players anywhere near their NBA counterparts.
But Caitlyn Clark is a rising tide, lifting all boats in the league. Because of a few words from her mouth about team travel, instead of commercial air travel, teams are now chartering jets for their players.
No one knows how long the Caitlyn Clark "effect" will be around the WNBA. Does she have upside, will she continue to improve and become one of the greatest players of all time at the professional level? No one knows. She is drawing attention now however and if the stats I've seen are accurate, she has better season stats than others who've made the Olympic team.
While we don't know what her upside is, she is playing well (for a rookie), and she IS the WNBA right now. She has a huge following. Diana Taurasi, Chennedy Carter, Angel Reese and most other WNBA players do not. Honestly, few people care if the Liberty are playing the Sparks, or the Mercury are playing the Dream. Those teams don't have Caitlyn Clark on them. This year, the US Olympic team won't have Clark on it. It will have Britney Griner on it.
Time will tell if that was a good choice or not. Winning a gold medal will not be the measure of whether or not it was a good choice. Whether or not the WNBA has more fans or fewer fans is the better measure. Leaving Caitlyn Clark off the team may not be the same as "killing the golden goose," but they're sure trying to strangle it.
She's happy with her NIL money.
Of course this is all 100% made up. Sure FANS say they want her to go. But she isn’t going to the trials, and therefore won’t go to Paris. So all the comparisons to Clark are kinda silly.
Yes, indeed, Pete had to do more with less. My point is that Caitlin has done more than any woman in NCAA history.
Apples and Oranges, with Caitlin it is her historic accomplishments ON THE COURT.
No, actually it would have been easier. The fact is the Olympics will have lots of WNBA players all over many of the teams, and the entire US team. If Clark had opted to not compete with them at all she wouldn’t have even been considered. Making the move to the WNBA showed she can compete with them, but she isn’t right now one of the best 12 players in the league.
Yep
Heck yeah.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.