February 16, 2024
Everyone, at least those who follow Iowa Women's Basketball, went to bed last night feeling exuberant about our shining Iowa women, Caitlin Clark and her team. Just think of all the smiles and high five exchanges that occurred when she broke the NCAA record. Wow, just wow! To think she grew up in Des Moines and is a truly homegrown Iowan. She has brought greater visibility to Iowa women’s sports and helps create an image that makes Iowa look like a place you might want to live.
The Iowa State Women's Basketball team is doing well too. They are 5th in the Big Twelve Conference and have set a number of their own records. ISU is a young team with lots of potential. I follow women's basketball and have six granddaughters that benefit from these role models in sports. My two grandsons benefit as well - growing up in a world of competitive sports that includes women and girls.
Athletics in our state now includes women’s wrestling. The SWAT Valkyries are a team made up of ten communities in Southwest Iowa. The team is named after the Valkyries who were female warriors in Norse mythology, possessing supernatural strength, prowess and power. How cool is that?
The United States has remarkable women who have beaten the odds and have become heroines to the women in our country and the world. Those who fought for the right to vote, for equal access to sports and to equal representation to state boards and commissions, paved the way for all of us.
Iowa women athletes have set a high standard of achievement. The coverage of Caitlin as an athlete indicates she is a team player. She has been compared to Steve Curry of the Golden State Warriors. This morning on National Public Radio, the commentator stated, "They (Clark and Curry) are remarkable shooters, they aren't ball hogs. They're both selfless passers who champion basketball's emphasis on sharing the ball." Perhaps our current Congress could learn from these exceptional people. Bi-partisanship and team playing gets work done and victories made - all can benefit.
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/16/1231817283/caitlin-clark-scoring-record-lynette-woodard-pearl-moore
Remember last year during the NCAA final game how Caitlin and Angel Reese trash talked each other? This is normal in all sports, men's and women's. In reviewing the news from that game, Angel was criticized far more than Caitlin. Both were reprimanded for unsportsmanlike behavior. They brought national attention to race and gender and how fans and journalists reacted to their interaction on the basketball court. Our country has a long history of racism that began before slavery and remnants of it remain to this day.
February is Black History Month, a time to celebrate contributions that have made our country great. Two formidable African American women basketball players played before the NCAA recognized women’s collegiate sports. Lynette Woodward and Pearl Moore are women who blazed the trail for women’s basketball. Woodward played for University of Kansas in the late 70s and early 80s and has a record of 3,649 points over four years. She won Olympic medals and was the first woman to play on the Harlem Globetrotters team.
Pearl Moore played in Division 1 for Francis Marion University, a small Division 1 college in Florence, South Carolina. She too played basketball in the late 1970s. Her record of 4,061 points has stood for decades in women's college basketball. Moore went on to play professional basketball for the now defunct Women's Professional Basketball League.
There is a long list of women who have overcome racial and gender barriers to reach the pinnacle of their sport. They are the shoulders we stand on.
Iowans truly have much to celebrate, but our status erodes as more and more authoritarian legislation emerges from our governor and legislature. Enacting laws that limit our libraries, take away civil rights and protect corporations that poison our land and kill our people continues to lead Iowa down a path of destruction. Laws that restrict us from living to our fullest potential continue to move forward under one party rule in Des Moines.
Team playing, respect and sportsmanship create a healthy work place environment, be it on the court or in the capitol. Iowans have the opportunity to step up to the plate to vote, run and lead for a more representative state government. Let's use the example of team sports and work together to create an Iowa where all people will achieve their highest goals.
Thanks, Denise, for making this great comparison. Yes, look at what's possible with teamwork and co-operation.
Thanks, Denise.
This reminds me of my observation of preschoolers exploring in the innovation room in the Ithaca Science Center. As I spent time with my three-year-old daughter, I observed children from all over the world playing harmoniously together. They were a model for government leaders. When one child departed from this harmony and grabbed magnets from my granddaughter, he accepted my suggestion to ask for what he wanted. It was readily given to him which set the stage for cooperative play. If our national and world leaders could only work together like this.