thependulumswings

As the Father’s Day grill heated up poolside so did the action on four TVs.   Four TVs and a pool.   Is that white privilege?  We’re asking for a neighbor.

The WNBA’s Indiana Fever vs. the Chicago Sky occupied one, the USGA US Open a second, the FSU vs. Virginia elimination College World Series game a third, and the former cheaters and now mediocre hometown Houston Astros were hosting the Detroit Tigers on the last one.

Caitlin Clark felt the privilege of being white on the side of her noggin midway through the second half.  Angel Reese, aka the Bayou Barbie, knocked her upside her head on a trip to the bucket and was charged with a flagrant foul.

It wasn’t Clark’s first hard knocks lesson on her rookie journey and it won’t be her last.  The WNBA’s biggest problems were 1)no one watches, and 2) it’s a $50 million a year cash drain on the NBA, never coming close to turning a profit.

Now its biggest problem is people are interested in Clark and the league’s players are interested in keeping her down.  Do blacks and black lesbians sense white privilege from this new straight star?  The political atmosphere of dividing us to conquer might have the answer to that.

Some players said last week that they wanted profit-sharing like their big brothers have in the NBA.  With this increased attendance and viewership, the league is still expected to lose $25 million.

Be careful what you wish for.  “Nothing from nothing leaves nothing,” Billy Preston once sang.

Meanwhile, Bryson DeChambeau, of LIV fame, won the Open over PGA stalwart and player spokesperson Rory McIlroy and his two missed short putts.  The golf world is seriously fractured as very rich LIV golfers make more money playing far less than rich PGA players.  Privilege personified.

It’s so petty in that world that 2023 US Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson chose his PGA buddy Justin Thomas over a LIVid DeChambeau last fall for the team.  The US was all but eliminated on day one last October.

Thomas was in and remains in the worst slump of his career.  The unconventional DeChambeau’s stock was and is soaring.   DeChambeau finished at -6 yesterday while Thomas missed the cut carding a two-round total of +11.

Meanwhile, the CWS has a bit of NIL and transfers to deal with nearly daily.   Still, its relative innocence, camaraderie, and imperfections make one yearn for simpler times and purer competition.   Watching 30 FSU dudes fly over the dugout railing to congratulate a teammate after a knock is refreshing.   Have a few Jell-o shots and enjoy the Omaha scene.

The once invincible Astros are now very ordinary.  The interest pales in comparison to the above.

Remember when the cheating scandal was front page news while the WNBA wasn’t, LIV wasn’t, and NIL wasn’t?

The sound of that trash can-turned drum is but a distant echo.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad way back when.