Caitlin Clark vs Kelsey Plum
whlinder
Member Posts: 4,739 
Curious to hear my fellow DAWG fans thoughts on this.
The Caitlin Clark hype train probably hit its crescendo today with her being picked first overall on ESPN, fresh off an SNL appearance and absolutely bonkers ratings for her final collegiate games. The level of attention to her and women's basketball has never been even close to what it is now, largely driven by something about Clark.
I watch a decent amount of women's sports, primarily tennis, but compared to the average WASP male I have to be fairly high on the bell curve of awareness of women's sports. USWNT is always interesting too.
While Clark has some ridiculous records and the logo 3s are nuts, what I can't figure out is why the interest has reached such insane levels recently. And I can't help but look back to our* Kelsey and try to understand why she didn't get close to the same level of interest.
Plum set the all-time NCAA scoring record which Clark broke.
Plum led her team to a surprise Final 4 in her junior year; Clark took team to title game.
Both led non-traditional WCBB programs to serious heights.
Both "attractive" brunette young ladies, well spoken, good personality etc. Kelsey prettier if you ask me.
Both #1 WNBA draft picks.
Clark definitely has a personality but I thought Plum always had a good one too.
What got Clark this level of attention which Plum never came close to? Logo 3s? Iowa being the middle of no-where and the only game in town compared to the Seattle sports scene (which in her senior year the football team went to the playoff)? ESPN's investment level in the WNBA/women's hoops finally paying off or even more focus in 2024? Twitter? ESPN becoming even woker? (don't answer, TITTT) The men's tournament becoming more and more lame in the past 7 years to allow a personable, decent looking female baller to garner more attention because the men have nothing interesting happening (Zach Edey lol)?
Maybe we've just changed that much in 7 years? I just find it chinteresting. The media hype train loves Clark and I never saw anything close to this with Plum. Do they think Clark is LBJ and Plum was Glenn Robinson?
Comments
You may be on to something about the men's tournament losing interest
I’d bone plum, I wouldn’t be surprised if clarks dick slipped out the bottom of her skirt.
Plum throws T-shirts to the 2nd level, clark flops when a fan brushes against her when storming the court.
Plum plays basketball, runs plays, shoots dribbles, rebounds, passes, plays D, clark throws up 40 shots a game.
Last… plum didn’t try to recreate a classic mamba moment when she won a fucking conference title.
I can’t stand Clark. She’s good for the game though, a game I don’t give two fucks about.
A goofy little dude in his 50s that works for me has been talking about Clark a lot. That's the only reason I know about her.
He's a kite boarder and mountain biker type who drives a Prius and complains when he burns a gallon of gas. Never played organized sports and probably shoots a basketball granny style. He knows all about her though and was watching the womens' tournament.
Clark is possibly the least charismatic superstar athlete we've ever seen. Even worse than Mahomes or ARod. Seriously can't think of anyone comparable with less personality.
Clark is like a 4.5/10. Wood not. And fuck Iowa.
Not sure what Plum is but an NFL star was willing to lock it down.
This is the topic I segue to when people force me to talk about Clark. I assume UW did a terrible job at marketing Plum the way they do just about everything. I think Clark was a better overall package but not nearly to the level of difference in attention the two got. It kind of happened with Ionescu before Clark but she got a lot of attention because they used her to fight the Kobe SA stuff when he died and Nike.
I severely under-represented the differences in this particular skill.
Oddly, Plum's look and vibe was much closer to Clark's in that photo than herself in that photo when she was playing at UW.
Pending the definition of superstar athlete, I default to compare Clark to the global tennis top players. I doubt any of you can name any of the top 4 ranked players in women's tennis other than Coco Gauff. Two of them are EASILY more accomplished than Clark but get no where near the attention. Of the top 4 I would suggest all are more attractive than Clark, but 2 struggle with personality. Sure, in America hoops »»» than tennis butt still.
Doesn't really seem more of less charismatic than just about any athlete now. I feel like most are funneled into 24/7 year round playing now and it kind of makes a lot of them kind of boring or just all the same.
I read this entire post in Cowboy Pup's voice and it fit perfectly
I very much prefer Kelsey, but I also had a Glenn Robinson jersey when I was 13. What the fuck do I know?
Mrs Snow who’s knows far more about this topic that the rest of y’all suggested the following:
1- The social media hype train industrial complex is a far bigger deal now than 2017 women’s college hoops.
2- Big 10 Heartland Feel Good Story. Think Hoosiers.
3- Clark just won a shit ton more games than Kelsey in her career and had far more tournament glory.
In 2018 I chatted with a WNBA head coach who told me Kelsey would struggle for a few years adjusting to the WNBA before becoming a big super star. Seems to have been a pretty good prediction
Clark is 4 inches taller than Plum. She’ll probably pick it up quicker off that bat.
It’s happening @Doog_de_Jour ! Women’s hoops higher lever discussion board.
The B1G seems to collectively cheer for lame as fuck teams like Iowa in the same way that the Pac 12 collectively fluffed Utah and Beavlet. Fuck it all.
Hey, pal, I watched 100 times more women’s hoops than mens the year. But I drive a big gas guzzler SUV and drink 100 proof bourbon neat.
I do not condone this Utah slander. Wisconsin (of old) and Utah earned some of their accolades for their consistency. They are the same program. Gotta respect it a little bit. Beavis had spurts of decency. Utah won conference titles and has always been tough. Respect.
you know how I know you guys are gay?
Hey buddy I'm not threatening to pull anyone's man card or anything. Even he's a good dude hence employing him for 13 or 14 years and counting.
I think that demographic is helping fuel a bit of a surge in interest in women's sports or at least hoops though. I'm not sure why it's now and not 10 years ago but it seems to be a thing.