BRS24
LisaG
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 4,014
- Reaction Score
- 24,107
Singular focus on Caitlin Clark brings risk, reward for ESPN and women's basketball
ESPN risks losing an opportunity to build up all of women's college basketball with a singular focus on Caitlin Clark and Iowa.
awfulannouncing.com
At times, the coverage has felt . . . a bit much.
During the broadcast, Beth Mowins and Stephanie White kept cutting to Rowe with tidbits about the team, Clark, her family, and her season, as well as insights on in-game huddle info, strategy, etc. As for West Virginia, they might have just been there for show. Never mind the fact that Mountaineers head coach Mark Kellogg was in his first season, had talked up the matchup against Iowa, and junior guard JJ Quinerly had just dropped 29 points to lead West Virginia over Princeton in the first round. There were no gold nuggets in the conversation to be had, even as the Mountaineers gave the Hawkeyes all they could handle. Once the game ended, the broadcast lingered longer than expected on the postgame activities while viewers waited to be shown Kansas versus USC (featuring budding star JuJu Watkins).
What would have happened if West Virginia won? Would the story have focused on the fact that the Mountaineers pulled off an incredible upset as an underdog team or Clark’s devastating loss? Chances are high it would have been the latter.