After Atalanta

 A broad title, but it is finals week and grading has crushed my creativity. More accurately, I want to discuss the power of the contemporary Black athlete. In full transparency, and given that the current system(s) still favor (while simultaneously exploiting) Black men athletes, I am mostly talking about men. That being said [aside coming]...in the last week of my Sport, Race, and Ethnicity course, we talk about athlete activism past and present and the materials I use discuss both men and women. The podcast Throughline has an episode called On the Shoulders of Giants that starts with boxer Jack Johnson before discussing the activism [the podcast uses the term protest] of runner Wilma Rudolph, and basketball player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.* I pair this with an article about the WNBA's campaign to unseat (she had been appointed by the governor following a resignation) former Atlanta Dream team owner Kelly Loeffler in the 2020/21 special election for a Senate seat.  This is all to...

How long have you been covering women's basketball?  The weirdness around Azzi Fudd being drafted to the Wings and thus rejoining her girlfriend, Paige Bueckers, is perplexing. The commentators at the draft and the press room afterwards did not mention the relationship, rather they asked Fudd about being back with her teammate.  How was this not discussed beforehand? Was Fudd prepped? It is clear Dallas was not prepped. A team rep at the press conference with Fudd, who was asked about her romantic relationship with Bueckers, shut down that questioning, leaving Fudd with an odd expression on her face. Hope folks figure this out soon--it is not as if they haven't had over a year to prepare.  Also, we should remember that these are 20-somethings.  The Coach of UConn Speaking of the past year...UConn had a stellar season before losing to South Carolina in the tournament semifinals. Will the season be remembered or will it be the loss--which was marked by atrocious behavi...