Snubbing The Snub

 Look, I don't know what Dawn Staley has to do, at this point. Genuflect at Caitlin Clark's feet? Place candles around her picture and burn some incense? Set off on a pilgrimage to Iowa wearing a hair shirt and begging forgiveness at every wide spot in the road along the way?

None of it would be enough, it seems, for the Society of the Chronically Aggrieved. Staley was a honcho on the committee to pick the U.S. women's Olympic basketball team, and the committee didn't pick Clark, and so the Chronically Aggrieved say it was because of jealousy or racism (especially ludicrous, considering almost half the team's white and so is the head coach) or whatever it is they're saying.

Bottom line, they're still carrying on about it. And probably always will.

The alleged Great Snub of Caitlin came up again the other day because Staley went on with Mike Tirico at the Paris Olympics and did her best to say she did not, in fact, have anything against Caitlin Clark. In fact, she said if the Olympic team were picked today, Clark would be a great asset because of the way she's lighting up the WNBA right now.

This of course won't appease radio foofs like Colin Cowherd (and others), who continue to insist it was petty and shortsighted to leave her off the team. From a marketing standpoint, that might be true. But otherwise?

Otherwise, this continued narrative that poor Caitlin is being persecuted by a bunch of mean girls needs to go away, because some of us (OK, me) are sick to death of it.  And that's especially true as it becomes more and more obvious what a load of manure it is.

Look. It's beyond all doubt now that, halfway through her rookie season, Clark already is one of the best players in the WNBA. And that the day is fast coming when she could be the best player.

But the Olympic team wasn't picked yesterday. It was picked when Clark's professional resume wasn't nearly as well-defined as it is now. At the time, she was just a rookie -- albeit the most celebrated rookie in WNBA history -- with a very small sample size and next to no Olympic-level international experience. And Olympic-level international experience was clearly a priority for the committee putting the team together.

So the Great Snub wasn't actually a snub, in the Blob's humble opinion. If everyone knew what they know now and left her off, that would be a snub. But they didn't, so it wasn't.

Of course, you can't convince the chronically aggrieved of that. They have their narrative, and they're sticking to it. Certain people just seem to have a need to feel persecuted these days, by proxy or otherwise. And even if they have to invent the persecution. 

(Consider, for instance, that certain species of Christian outraged by the depiction of the Feast of Dionysius during the Olympic opening ceremonies. Now, it was admittedly weird, but then again, we are talking about the French here. Somehow, though, the certain species of Christian got it in their heads it was a blasphemous depiction of the Last Supper, even though to see it that way you had to seriously suspend disbelief. But that didn't stop them from feeling outraged at a perceived attack on their faith, which perhaps was the whole point.)

Where was I again?

Oh, yeah. Caitlin Clark.

Who is indeed a stronger, more confident player than she was a couple of months ago, and not just because her teammates have magically gotten better. If they've gotten better, it's because she's gotten better. That's obvious to anyone who remotely knows what they're seeing.

Dawn Staley does, and so there she was the other night, praising Clark's extraordinary court vision and basketball IQ. And saying, sure, if the team were picked today, she'd likely be on it.

Does that sound petty to you?

Yeah. Me either.