Dear Stanford Fans,
This post isn't the tribute to the Funky Four I promised after the Mississippi game. That commentary will happen but it has been delayed due my travels to Seattle for the Regionals and Dallas for the Final Four along with the illness and death of a beloved animal companion. What I am sharing today is a letter I wrote in response to Ann Killion's April 3rd commentary on the National Championship game in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Dear Ann Killion,
The flaw in the Final Four was the racism in the media's treatment of the largely Black teams from South Carolina and LSU versus the treatment of the almost totally White team from Iowa (which only had one woman of color on its roster). You - and the rest of the media -- were distraught over the 37 fouls called in the National Finals (18 on LSU and 19 on Iowa). But the media was totally silent about the 38 fouls called in the Semi-Final game, 20 on South Carolina and 18 on Iowa. In Iowa's two games there were 75 fouls called -- 37 against Iowa, 38 against Iowa's opponents.
Egged on by the media's questions, Lisa Bluder bemoaned how "unfair" it was that Czinano's career ended with her on the bench having fouled out. But nobody cried about how unfair it was that Bree Beals ended her career the same way or that South Carolina's historic season ended with a loss in part due to Aliyah Boston spending most of the first half on the bench due to early fouls. Big Ten fans all know that Catlin Clark -- undeniably a generational talent -- often uses a quick shove to get free for her stunning three pointers. That move is a foul, but Clark rarely gets called for it -- perhaps due to her quickness, perhaps due to "All-star deference," perhaps due to something else.
Social media blew up over Angel Reese making a gesture at Catlin Clark as time ran out on Iowa in the Finals -- but nobody had called out Clark for making the same gesture towards Boston as time ran out on South Carolina's historic season. In fact, Reese says she only did it because of Clark's actions towards Boston. Clark's trash talking and, some would say disrespectful, encouragement of cheers from the crowd is called passionate. But when Black women do similar things they are called "low class" or worse.
Iowa's play is called "physical" while South Carolina's is called "street fighting." This is a slightly toned-down modern version of Imus's 2007of description of the Rutgers team coached by C. Vivian Stringer. There seems to be a special problem for the media when a largely Black team is coached by a Black woman.
This isn't just about Iowa. In the 40 minutes of game time, Kim Mulkey had both of her feet inside the court boundaries for at least 30 minutes, but she is allowed to do that even though the rule book says she can't. On at least one occasion an official ON the court had to run around Kim Mulkey and didn't call the technical. Can you imagine Dawn Staley being allowed to spend virtually the entire game with her feet firmly planted INSIDE the court and never being called for the technical foul that behavior deserves?
It is disappointing that a commentator who often notices the racism of our culture got sucked into this racist narrative about the Final Four. Yes, foul calls have an impact on basketball games. And, yes, foul calls are particularly difficult for a team that doesn't have a deep bench, and Iowa didn't. But this issue was alive and well throughout the entire tournament -- indeed throughout the season. It shouldn't suddenly be the lead story just because the media darlings didn't win. I thought you were better than that.
Sincerely,
Nancy Baker
Stanfordfangirl.blogspot.com
