The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - INSTANT REACTION: Iowa beats LSU, “Caitlin Clark Isn’t A Star… She’s A Comet”, Why Women’s Basketball Is Exploding In Popularity

Episode Date: April 2, 2024

Colin gives his instant reaction to Caitlin Clark and Iowa beating Angel Reese and LSU to advance to the Final Four! He lists the two reasons why there’s been an explosion of popularity in women’s basketball (3:30) and what’s missing from the men’s game. He weighs in on the controversy surrounding LSU coach Kim Mulkey (7:00) and why Caitlin Clark isn’t just a “star”... she’s a “comet” (11:00). (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Volume #Herd See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying.

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And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors.

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Issued as one bonus bet based on amount of initial losing bet. bets expire 168 hours after issuance. See dkng.com slash promos for deposit wagering in eligibility restrictions, terms, and responsible gaming resources. All right. Time for instant reaction. Iowa 94, LSU 87 in a rematch. I thought it was incredibly fast-paced and fun.

The game wasn't really, it didn't feel that close. Iowa got more good looks. A lot of it, Caitlin Clark, 41 points. for 20 on threes, 12 assists. And the assists are notable because, you know, why do we have this explosion in women's college basketball? This probably had six and a half, seven million viewers. I'm guessing it was on cable, not ABC, so I'd say six and a half. Some are predicting eight. I'm not sure if it'll get there. Could. But, I mean, dominating on social media tonight. And I think there's two reasons why you're getting this explosion. Number one is the quality of

play is better. You can go back and watch the 1970s NBA and you can have Dr. Jay doing things that guys can't do now. I mean, the athleticism in the NBA. You can go back to 1975, 1985, men's college basketball. I'd argue it was better. You had guys like, you know, superstar players Akeem and Clyde Drexler staying for a third or a fourth year. But women's college basketball in the 70s and 80s did not look like this. The players now, the distribution, the scoring, the finishing, the passing, the size, the speed of athletes. It's different. I YouTube tonight for fun.

I YouTube 1980 women's college basketball. It's just not the same sport. The passing, the ball movement, the cutting. It's clever. And tonight's game wasn't chippy at all. But there's some chippiness, some physicality. And it's a joy to watch. I mean, folks, 94-87.

That's like a month. That's December scoring for Virginia men's basketball. How many games in this tournament have you watched on the men's side and thought, Can we get to 50? Can we get to 53? Even Duke was painful to watch. But the quality of looks, the quality of shots, and just the quality of distribution and movement is terrific. And a lot of that's because we have multiple generations now of women being encouraged to go be athletes. It wasn't the case in the 40s, 50s, maybe in the 60s, 70s. So the quality is really good. That's the first part. And the second thing, women's college basketball is delivering and producing

what men's college basketball is not continuity. It's not a carousel, great players and great rivalries year after year after a year. People are creatures of habit. I eat the same four things for breakfast the last 50 years. I'm having an oatmeal. I'm having a smoothie. I'm having an omelette. You know, it's the same stuff.

And people are creatures of habit, right? Our patterns. We like continuity. We like some predictability. And women's college basketball, we get a rematch. We get Caitlin Clark for a second year. a third year, a fourth year. The best college men's players, it's a turnstile.

Half of them don't even play college basketball. So this is why you can criticize the NBA, you can criticize pro sports. There's been a lot of mobility in the NBA, but most of the warriors have stayed. You know, Jalen Brown and Tatum aren't going anywhere. Steph, Clay, Draymond Green, not going anywhere for a long time. Clay Thompson may move now. But I think it's delivering what men's college basketball doesn't. And there are a lot of people in this country that prefer the aesthetic, the intensity, the competition, and the rivalries of college basketball over pro basketball. I like the quality of NBA basketball. But I will say everybody plays the same way. There's not a lot of uniqueness. It's all dunks or threes. And I don't like load management. Caitlin Clark is going to show up for every game. Angel Reese is going to show up for every game. So Caitlin was the difference. tonight in this game. And that's usually the way it works in big games with superstars.

But I just, when I watched it, you know, it's funny that LSU is sort of seen as the villain. Kim Mulkey sort of seen as the villain. Listen, she's a very conservative woman who has been at conservative right-leaning colleges. And the media mostly is moderate to left, sometimes severely left. And they don't like everything she's done. I don't agree with everything she's done. I did when she called out the NCAA and said, stop test. players for COVID. I had friends who were not conservative that felt that way. The safest group of people in America were 22 and under athletes. So sometimes I agree with her. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes the media tells in itself a little bit when it comes to figures that they don't agree

with. But I don't look at LSU as sort of villains. I mean, Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, both can play a little chippy in games. And then, like, tonight it was classy and you didn't get to that point. I just thought Iowa, frankly, got better shots. I thought they, first of all, LSU was long. Angel Reese at the rim blocked several shots, but I didn't think the perimeter defense was great for LSU. I thought, you know, Caitlin Clark beat her person off the dribble every time. And that created mismatches, number mismatches in the half court game, in the full court game. And LSU felt like they were playing catch up. They just couldn't get stops. They couldn't stay in front of them. By the way, this is what happens in basketball at the highest levels,

without the hand check of the 80s, you can't stay in front of anybody, men or women. And, you know, Caitlin Clark, very clever. Again, the 12 assists, she's a score. The 12 assist, very clever passer, setting up teammates. And that's really the difference between, you know, the great ones and the really good ones, is the ability to elevate others beyond yourself. And I think Caitlin Clark does that. I thought it was really enjoyable.

I think sometimes when you have these big matchups, you know, the chiefs play the bills, you You know, you have a big fight. There's this, you know, Super Bowl's. Brady went the longest time without ever getting a touchdown in the first quarter of a Super Bowl. I'm still not sure if he finished with any in New England. He may have. But the first six or seven, I don't think he did. And it's anxiety.

You know, you don't, you don't want to put yourself out there. You don't want to take big risks. I thought the pace of this game was crazy. I mean, it was just, I mean, if these were fighters, they would have been taking knockout punches in the first five minutes of the game. It was sort of a relentless, exhaust. And again, you're talking about scores in the 70s and 80s and 90s. You're not getting that men's basketball. So I think the pace was fun.

Tonight felt really, really big. I mean, I went home. I went to the gym. I came home. And I was like, I'm watching this game. And I wasn't disappointed at all. Although I did feel it was tied at half. I did feel, even in the first half, you know, I kind of felt like I was getting better,

easier shots. They're just getting more open looks. And LSU is getting some stuff putbacks and re-exing. They were kind of, they're a long team. They're big. Some block shots, some rebounds. But they were really working for their shots. But Caitlin Clark, breaking people off the dribble, getting open looks. And then I thought the second half, and it's almost always this way in all sports. Whoever is scoring easier usually wins. It's just hard to have to work for every basket. And I just, I really felt like LSU, even though they scored a lot of points, I thought they had to work harder for their

baskets. Some of that's just Caitlin Clark. getting past people, getting a math advantage, numbers advantage. But I thought it was really, really good. It's funny as I, you know, through the years, I've obviously, I kind of follow the lead of the audience. I've always had sort of a feeling you drive the bus. It's my job to cover what you're talking about. So I felt a responsibility tonight. We were going to get six, seven, eight, whatever they get, million viewers for this game. And I don't think that's the story. Everybody is kind of, wow, so many viewers. The game is the story. story. Pay respect to the women's basketball. The game was the story, the quality of play,

the speed, the effectiveness, the shot making. But I felt like, you know, people are going to talk about this. I'm sure this will be my lead tomorrow on the show, first or second story. And I've put women's basketball and Caitlin Clark in it three or four times this year, two or three times minimum. Yeah, I thought this kind of lived up to the hype. And I think it was kind of an exhilarating fun night of basketball that everybody enjoyed. And I think it captivated social media. It captivated the country. And, you know, it's another thing. I've said this. I grew up an NBA fan. So I'm from the Northwest. And the Sonics and the Blazers both got titles in the 70s. So in my area, college basketball wasn't as good. The Huskies had Marv Harshman. The Beavers had Ralph

Miller. They were winning programs, but the quality wasn't very good. And the Sonics and the Blazers were great. They were winning titles. So I was an NBA fan. I've got little, you know, newspaper cut out things all over this corked wall in my bedroom. And I think the NBA and baseball were my first love. But, you know, one of the things about the NBA that I do think it's a bigger problem than anybody wants to acknowledge. The game is getting international. That's fine. Good basketball is good basketball.

But I think load management's a real problem. And when I went to a Celtics Bulls game a couple Saturdays game a couple Saturdays ago in Chicago, three of the best players for the Celtics sat out. If you're going to sit out a game, sit out a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, those Friday and Saturday night games, those are date nights. Those are big. That's when, you know, your son or your daughter don't have school the next day. And those are games that really, really matter to a family. A lot of people, I'm one of them. I go to two NBA games a year just because of my schedule. Maybe three. This year I've been to two. I'm going to a Nick's Bulls game this weekend or this Friday in Chicago. But I think it matters. And watching the women tonight, I'm like, like I knew multiple starters for teams. Continuity, repetition, predictability, storylines. That's why 90% of the the revenue in cinema today is remakes and sequels. You know, people want to be invested in a plot. So this is the big rematch. I just, I think it's really important. I think Adam Silver has been a bit too player-friendly and accommodating, but I thought a big part of tonight is we all knew who, we knew it was Angel Reese and Kim Mulkey and Caitlin Clark and we knew the rivalry and it got

testy and chippy last year. It's a big part of sports. It's a big part of movies. Rememorty. makes, sequels, and it was fun. And the game flew by. Refs got out of the way mostly. I thought between Juju Watkins at USC, Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, the only men's basketball player that rivals that in terms of star power is Zach Eady for Purdue. And I do think Yukon is a, I don't know if they're historically great. They're great. For 2024, they're great for men's basketball. But I think three of the four biggest stars in March have it on the women's side. And, you know, we can talk about the purity of the game and we love the game. America love stars. We're a very fast-paced, frenetic society. We're all distracted. We've all got our phones.

You know, we're doing a million things. We like stars. Stars get us to a theater. They get us to a game. And Caitlin Clark has that kind of power. I mean, now, Angel Reese is great, too. But Caitlin Clark's kind of unique shooting range. I was joking on. social media, her shooting range is somewhere around, hey, I'm driving to the arena, I'll be there soon. Some of her shots are just insane. I'm not even sure they're good shots. Go in or not. They're just shots that she takes and with relative ease. So I, star power matters. You can talk about the quality of anything. But brands matter, star power matters. And Caitlin Clark has it. I was trying to think during the first half of the game, I was kind of Googling and thinking about the biggest

stars in the history of college basketball. And that the first big star to me was Pat Summit. And then there was, you know, Nancy Lieberman, and then Cheryl Miller, and then the Yukon was sort of a collective. I do think Maya Moore is about as good a players have ever seen. So it was either coach or a program or Cheryl Miller. Kaelan Clark, I think, is just a comet. And like, you know, what's also great about it is it's almost like I was watching a Steve Martin documentary, the other day. And, you know, all movie stars have ups and down. Even Marlon Brando, Tom Hanks, Denso, good movies, bad movies. The thing about Caitlin Clark is she just keeps delivering every time. Like, every time I tune in, like, tonight, you're like, okay, she'll have 31, 41, 12 assists.

And she just, it's like, it would be like having, you know, six sequels do a movie and everyone's better than the next. So that's rare. Everybody has stinkers. Brady, Mahomes. It's got kind of a Tiger Woods feel to it. She's got kind of like every time I watch and anticipate, she just delivers. And women's college basketball this year has really done that. I had a blast for the last two hours watching that game two and a half hours, and I hope you did as well. Congrats to Iowa and LSU's a hell of a team. Kim Mulkey can drive a lot of people in the media nuts.

But doesn't she have two natties, two different schools? That's pretty good. That's pretty good coach. Listen, college coaches have a lot of power on a campus. campus. They have a right to an opinion, even if I don't agree with them. And as a sportscaster, you're always looking for big games. NFL season, Mondays are easy shows. I'm always looking for big games in the offseason. So thank you to women's basketball, LSU and Iowa and Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese for delivering a great night of entertainment. That was fun.

The volume. Thanks so much for listening. If you've enjoyed the podcast, take a moment, rate, and review. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career

in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Cliford Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Cliford Show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok

podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it with our friends, fellow comedians,

and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I mean, it was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.