Caitlin Clark pulled me in hard: chasing rookie cards and subscribing to League Pass
I’m absolutely late to the WNBA party. You’d think growing up in Sacramento, I’d have been a women’s basketball fan from the start. The Monarchs were one of the only teams to bring Sacramento a championship—still the city’s only major title.
That was literally 20 years ago, and now the Monarchs no longer exist. I’m glad I never got invested in them. Back then I was in high school and dealing with the kinds of problems that only teenagers believe is world-shattering. Plus, Alex Smith had just been drafted to the San Francisco 49ers. My friend Michael and I would sit in Biology class with our Niners schedules tucked in our binder covers, daydreaming about how much better our team would be.
On second thought, maybe I should have been more invested in the Monarchs back then.
Last year is when everything changed, as it did for seemingly everyone. Caitlin Clark came out of college as the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer, and seemed destined to take the WNBA by storm.
Like everyone else, I got hooked. I was watching highlights and scrolling X. I even started chasing Caitlin Clark cards and buying up WNBA blasters and tins. It was impossible not to want her cards and follow her games. Caitlin Clark was everywhere.
But I definitely leveled up. I have her Funko Pop on preorder, more blasters on the way, still trying to pull a second rookie card (I’ve only pulled a single CC, out of Monopoly), and I’ve even bought League Pass.
And it’s not just her; Caitlin Clark has elevated the entire sport. I tuned in for Caitlin, but now I cheer for every Fever bucket and fall apart with every Fever loss. I open WNBA packs hoping for her cards, but I’ve made room in my collection for all her teammates too.
Her teammates bring up a whole other angle. Last year, Caitlin Clark was hazed—no, bullied—nearly every game, and her teammates rarely seemed fired up about it. This year? The team brought in her own personal enforcer.
Sophie Cunningham is exactly what Caitlin Clark needed, and exactly what the WNBA needed to show all of the new fans that it has just as much fire as the NBA. She was gritty, fiery, and absolutely on the attack after Caitlin Clark got poked in the eye in the June 17 game.
Between Sophie’s fire and Caitlin’s flash, the WNBA is genuinely exciting to watch.
“You know, if you respect women, stop pandering,” Colin Cowherd said about Caitlin Clark on his June 18 show. “She’s tough, she’s feisty, she likes to taunt and talk, and nobody quite knows what the hell to do.”
He said it himself: there’s never been a player like Caitlin Clark.
Caitlin Clark hooked me in. Now that I’m in, I’m glued. If the Fever aren’t playing, I’ll throw on whatever game is streaming in the League Pass app. It’s just that fun.
Yeah, I’m a bandwagon fan. That’s how the WNBA is growing. One highlight, one buzzer-beater and one Caitlin Clark at a time.
Darkstar Shady 
Leave a comment