Mike Griggs

Extoller of all things sports, outdoors and tech. Tweets are mine & retweets are just that. don’t be mean...M-I-Z

[Jason Whitlock @jasonwhitlock]

Stephanie White and her defensive assistant Briann January sabotaged Caitlin Clark on Saturday. It was intentional. In the history of basketball, no superstar player has ever been subbed out after 210 seconds of excellent playmaking. White disrupted her rhythm and left her on an island defensively.

[Alexie C Rivera @RedPillLaredo]

I’m going to say this as calmly as possible:

Watching Caitlin Clark in the WNBA has become genuinely hard to stomach.

Not because she struggles sometimes. Not because she makes mistakes. Not because she gets criticized. That comes with being great.

It’s hard to stomach because it has become obvious that the league, the officials, the media, the players, and even her own organization have all decided that the most important thing is not letting Caitlin Clark become too big.

And that is insane.
@WNBA @IndianaFever
This league was handed the most marketable, electric, revenue-generating player women’s basketball has ever seen, and instead of building around the moment, too many people seem obsessed with humbling her.

She gets fouled. Held. Hit. Cheap-shotted. Mocked. Targeted. Then when she reacts like a normal competitor, suddenly everyone wants to analyze her attitude.

No.

Her attitude is not the story.

The story is that a generational player is being treated like a problem by the very league she helped drag into mainstream relevance.

This reminds me of the worst kind of youth coach... the one who sees a special player, feels threatened by her talent, and slowly drains the joy out of her in the name of “teaching humility.”

That is what this looks like.

The freedom she played with at Iowa is disappearing. The fire is still there, but the joy looks damaged. The confidence looks weighed down. She looks like someone constantly fighting the refs, opponents, narratives, coaching decisions, jealousy, and a league culture that should be protecting its golden opportunity instead of resenting it.

And let’s be honest: Stephanie White has not helped.

Benching Caitlin Clark randomly when she is controlling the game tempo, or having your best shooter off the floor in critical game ending minutes when a victory is within reach is basketball malpractice. Limiting her rhythm, downplaying her greatness, benching momentum, and treating her like just another piece instead of the engine is absurd.

You do not take a player who changed the economics of your sport and manage her like you’re afraid her greatness might offend the room.

Nike deserves criticism too. Other players get signature shoes rolled out with urgency, while the biggest draw in women’s basketball is somehow still waiting on that signature shoe. That is not confusing. That is revealing.

Fans are not stupid.

They see the fouls.
They see the double standards.
They see the jealousy.
They see the media resentment.
They see the league benefiting from her popularity while refusing to fully embrace her.
And here is the part the WNBA better understand quickly:
People are not tuning in to watch Caitlin Clark be humbled.
They are tuning in to watch Caitlin Clark be great.
If she walked away tomorrow, the fans would follow her. The sponsors would follow her. The energy would follow her. The high salaries and the charter jets would follow her. And the league would be forced to confront the uncomfortable truth it keeps trying to avoid:

Caitlin Clark did not need the WNBA nearly as much as the WNBA needed Caitlin Clark.

At some point, her family, her agent, and her team need to ask a hard question:

How much longer do you let a league profit from her while allowing the culture around her to beat the spirit out of her?

Because from the outside looking in, this does not look like normal adversity anymore. It looks like abuse.

It looks like a league trying to break the very player who made millions of people care.

https://t.co/inOzS5bpCQ…

[Mike Griggs @BoCo0920]

@BradHensonPro Remember Dee Ford for one error…a huge, dang, Super Bowl nullifying error!

[Mike Griggs @BoCo0920]

@ChaseDaniel @MizzouFootball @_willcompton @NdamukongSuh If I recall correctly, TV announcers were heralding Nebraska’s defense as they had a streak of holding all opponents’ opening drives to a “3 & out.” They held Mizzou on their opening drive to 3 plays, but the 3rd play was a Daniel to Maclin 58 yd TD pass.

[Mike Griggs @BoCo0920]

@Biig_Dre How many bots are on this thread?

Bots talking to bots
All videos are AI
This is the new X
Say hello to Bluesky

[Mike Griggs @BoCo0920]

@InsaneReality I’m

[Mike Griggs @BoCo0920]

@proud_native_am I want one

[Mike Griggs @BoCo0920]

@ScottForesterTV @byEliHoff @grok https://t.co/vDJzTpXUyq

[SEC Numbers Guy @secnumbersguy]

This Mizzou kick story just gets better.

My man is an amputee!

[Mike Griggs @BoCo0920]

@YouTube Please fix the broadcast! Dropping out of 4K, voice not aligned, buffering issues…not good!

[Mike Griggs @BoCo0920]

@landondonovan Everton v Man City for sure
Man U v Wolves
Man City v Aston Villa

[Mike Griggs @BoCo0920]

@cwfarre You mean this?

[trey wingo @wingoz]

You’re right it does. So here’s some context. The team this season that had the most TD drives extended with a penalty? The @BuffaloBills at 33% .

[Lexi @lexiosborne]

@stoolpresidente @nflcommish

[Mike Golic Jr @mikegolicjr]

I really don't think that Worthy play is all that controversial.

[Tommy Smokes @TomScibelli]

I get so irrationally annoyed by people complaining about the Chiefs and the refs that it’s made me root for them. Hating a team just because they are good is so pathetic. Step back and appreciate the dynasty we’re watching

[nick wright @getnickwright]

If folks want to see all 7, here they are courtesy of @ChasingSnyder.

Truly unreal folks are doing this today.

[nick wright @getnickwright]

Since evidently we are doing this, lead by the highest profile & highest paid NFL reporter in history, here’s the last Roughing the Passer call Mahomes got in the playoffs, prior to the Texans game.

What a flop!

[DG aka WoofyBryant 🦴 @_keepitprolific]

-Missed FG
-Missed Extra Point
-Blocked FG
-Offense put up 12 points
-Give up 8 sacks
Am I missing anything else ?????

[Robert Griffin III @RGIII]

The Texans lost to the Chiefs in Week 16 because they lost;

- on 3rd Down
-in Red Zone TD%
-Had more penalties
-Didn’t win the turnover battle
-QB Sacked 2 times

The Texans lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round of the Playoffs because they lost;

-in Red Zone TD %
-Had more penalties
-Didn’t win the turnover battle
-QB Sacked 8 times

Wild. Deja Vu

[Brad Henson Productions @BradHensonPro]

People tend to forget that Tom Brady had the refs in his back pocket during his reign with the Patriots. Chris Jones roughing the passer has to be the worst call I have ever seen.