Sunday, November 12, 2023
We are back from Charlotte where we saw both the women and the men’s Virginia Tech basketball teams play. Both teams played well, but lost by four and two points respectively.
The women were playing Iowa. The attendance was over 15,000 – which was the largest crowd in North Carolina for a women’s game. Many, myself included, were anxious to see Iowa’s Caitlin Clark play in person. I came away being disappointed in her game, which is the kindest I can put it. She bullied. She walked. She pushed off. She whined. And the refs let her get away with it. I now understand the foul late in their playoff game last year where it looked like all she did was toss the ball haphazardly to the edge of the court and she got called for delay-of-game. I’m guessing one of the refs had enough of her BS.
Virginia Tech’s point guard Georgia Amoore held her own against Clark in the first half, including a half court at the buzzer three pointer. In fact, she and Clark each had 18 points that half. Then a strange thing happened. In the third quarter Amoore and the Hokies went flat. I’m not sure why, but other have said that the ladies backed off of their defensive play because they were getting called.
Clark on the other hand didn’t get many calls on here. This despite her knocking ful bodied into defensive players, shoving off them with a hard hand to the stomach, and taking on average four steps to the basket.
After the game, which the ladies lost by four points, it seemed the sports writers and analysts couldn’t heap praise on Clark fast enough or high enough. Yes she scored some forty points, but when the refs don’t call you for your actions and the other team has to back off, well, it just wasn’t that impressive. It was kind of – I don’t know – disappointing? I mean, she’s supposed to be the best woman basketball player in the country – college level and she acts like that?
Moving on. I saw a little clip of Don Jr. from a rally where he said Paul Krugman, the Nobel winning economist, had said something about the economy improving. But Donnie said Krugman had taken all the basic indicators that we are interested in, out of his prediction. Things like gas prices, inflation, jobs, etc.
Wow. It turns out that is true. What Don Jr. forgot to mention was that if you put all those things “average people care about” back in the economic picture is even better. Suck it Donnie.
Watched the end of My Cousin Vinnie the other night. I couldn’t take any more football or politics. What a great ending. I missed the early bit where Fred Gwynne as the judge asked Joe Pesci, “What is a yut?” But Marissa Tomei with the “It’s a trick question,” and her response to that and her declaration of the make and model that made the tire tracks during the getaway. Classic. (that last part is not in this clip.)
Here it is: