Caitlin Clark and Connor McCaffery. From her Instagram page.

Caitlyn Clark is the basketball phenom from the University of Iowa who topped Pete Maravich’s career NCAA scoring record, and has twice led her team to the NCAA’s women’s Final Four. The number one draft choice by the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, she is doing well, though not scoring at the same kind of pace as she did in college, because in the pros, all of the other players are good.

Miss Clark has had a rough rookie year, being greeted by the more physical play that all of the WNBA players encounter. The publicity she received has been celebrated by many, as well as trashed by many, frequently with the racist overtones that she only got the attention she did because she’s white, decent looking, and sexually normal. That overlooks the fact that other white, good-looking, and heterosexual WNBA players before her, such as Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu did not have the same popularity as Miss Clark; there must be some other factor involved. At any rate, Miss Clark is the rising tide that has lifted all WNBA boats, as league attendance and revenues have jumped, and, after Miss Clark’s shoe contract, a few other WNBA players got them as well.

But this is the silliest take of all:

UFL Blames Caitlin Clark For League’s Poor Attendance Numbers

by Michael Gallagher | Wednesday, July 3, 2024 | 10:24 PM EDT

The United Football League found out the hard way that strong television ratings doesn’t necessarily equate to strong attendance numbers.

While any number of factors could be responsible for the low attendance for the spring football league’s debut season, executive vice president of football operations Daryl Johnston picked a puzzling culprit: Indiana Fever rookie sensation Caitlin Clark.

“I think we were all probably a little bit disappointed, especially in the attendance,” Johnston said, via Fox 4 News. “The TV numbers are fantastic and I think that’s one the things. I think we were insulated with TV because of the merger coming together late.

“…We’re in a very competitive environment when you talk about spring sports — soccer continues to grow in this country, Caitlin Clark is a phenom that kind of swept the spring athletic scene. So, there’s a lot of different things out there challenging and competing for eyes.”

UFL games are free on television, whenever ESPN and similar networks choose to broadcast/cablecast them, but attending games in person costs money, time, and travel. But, guess what: so do WNBA games! Daryl Johnston shouldn’t blame their poor showing on anyone else: if they aren’t drawing the number of fans they expected, that’s on them and their product, and no one else.

Only two of the UFL’s teams, the Arlington Renegades and the D C Defenders, are in direct competition with WNBA teams, the Dallas Wings and Washington Mystics; there are no UFL teams in the WNBA’s other ten markets, so physical attendance isn’t really competitive.

A lesson that I learned in life is instructive: if I ever failed at something, I realized that those failures were my fault, and no one else’s. It’s a hard thing to learn, and too many people want to blame other people when things don’t go their way. Mr Johnston needs to learn that lesson himself.