This is a story near and dear to my heart.
Caitlin Clark is the face of women’s college basketball. That’s not new information to anyone who’s been paying the slightest bit of attention to the sports world over the past two years. Her fantastic play has done wonders to draw more eyes to the sport of women’s basketball. The sport is getting new media attention and capturing the hearts of new fans all over the nation.
Clark has gained another big-time fan, one of the greatest in his respective realm. None other than former professional wrestler Mick Foley has become a fan of the Iowa point guard. The former WWF (now WWE) champion announced on Facebook that he is swept up in Caitlin Mania.
https://www.facebook.com/RealMickFoley/posts/pfbid033NgmNNzWAnVdA5ThtTYhKUkvardu672VWxFnmrC43n78kQPn7wzdq1MgeQmGyjHGl
The hardcore wrestling legend is seen in his Facebook post wearing a shirt featuring his new favorite athlete, Clark. He revealed he will finally get to watch her in person, buying a ticket to see Iowa take on No. 13 Indiana on Feb. 22 in Bloomington, Indiana.
A die-hard Indiana hoops fan, Foley is originally from Bloomington, Indiana. The man formerly known as Mankind is finally completing his childhood dream of seeing his favorite team play in person. What finally made him pull the trigger on a ticket, though, was being able to see Clark in person.
The “significant after-market mark-up” couldn’t even keep Mankind away.
Count me in as one who has been completely immersed in the massive wave of #CaitlinMania that has swept the sports world. I arrived at my Caitlin maniac status slowly; first taking note of the long range threes this Iowa phenom was sinking on SportsCenter ESPN. This was her sophomore season — and I had never seen anything like it in women’s basketball.
I found myself looking her up on YouTube over the course of the following year. I could not even recall her name on those first few YouTube journeys, just typing in ‘Iowa women’s basketball’ and marveling time and time again – first at Clark’s long-range prowess, but later, at her ability to drive the lane, to find the open teammate; to see the entire floor in a way that very few women (or men) are able to do.
Although my schedule prohibited me from catching Caitlin’s epic march to the #NCAA finals in 2023, I have become far more engaged and proactive in this 2023/2024 season. I have been checking out the Iowa women’s schedule regularly, watching the games I’m home for and recording the ones when I’m away
Then, just minutes ago, the indisputable evidence that CaitlinMania is running wild, brother: I purchased a single ticket (at a significant after-market mark-up) for Iowa’s February 22nd away game against Indiana. Growing up as a diehard IU men’s hoops fan (I even wrote a poem about the Hoosiers 1976 NCAA victory) attending an IU game at Assembly Hall was stuff of which bucket lists are made. On February 22nd, that childhood dream comes true!
The cost of an aftermarket ticket to the game: $240. Gas money to drive 1,500 miles RT: $200. Hotel: $150. The honor of watching a college phenomenon change and grow the game of women’s basketball: priceless. – Mick Foley.
With the rise of Clark and women’s basketball, you are seeing more and more notable celebrities becoming fans of the game. For me, this is probably the coolest collaboration of figures possible. Seeing my favorite wrestler of all time wearing a Clark jersey is just awesome.
Mick, if you’re somehow reading this, trust me, you’re in for a treat on Feb. 22. Also, Mick, have a nice day!
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