I am introducing a new thing I am doing on my blog: smitten. The world is absolutely on fire, and we all need some joy and something maybe inconsequential to care about. So I want to write about the things I love that maybe might be a surprise to people that I am absolutely, ridiculously, deeply in love with.
First up, women's basketball.
Anyone who has known me for a while knows that sports has never really been my thing. I followed the Cubs because my husband is a Cubs fan (and I think it's the law if you were born in Illinois that you love a Chicago team and they are mine), I get excited about some sports sporadically (because Olympic curling and break dancing are awesome), but I never really followed anything.
Then in early 2024, Tabi decided they wanted to take a basketball class at our local rec center. She loved it. After a couple weeks, I said, 'hey, have you heard of this Caitlin Clark chick? She's on the University of Iowa's women's basketball team, and she's supposed to be really good". To which Tabi said that they did not and we agreed to check out an Iowa game because why not?
I don't recall which game was our first, but it wasn't our last. I remember Molly Davis getting hurt on March 3 and having to miss the rest of the season due to a fractured/dislocated knee, so I am going to go with that one being the first one. We watched the rest of their season, and post season and we were hooked. Tabi liked it but I LOVED it.
I devoured everything I could about women's basketball, and laughed myself silly at the Iowa Hawkeyes Women's Basketball team social media, and really developed a deep love for Kate Martin (which remains to this day).
We watched the draft and cheered for Caitlin when she got drafted to the Fever, and I went to bed early because I had to work and missed the rest of the draft. So it was only about 20 minutes later that I was scrolling socials and screamed because Kate Martin had been drafted to the Las Vegas Aces.
I subscribed to the W so I could watch all the games. Tabi and I had an unfortunately terrible experience in Minneapolis seeing the Fever play the Lynx that year (it had everything to do with Target Center being very vertical and we were at the very top), and I was able to meet my friend from college, Michelle, in Indianapolis for my first Indiana Fever game against the Dallas Wings (the game where Arike Ogunbowale got fouled out of the game--Arike is another of my favorites).
We watched all the summer Olympic games we could and Tabi and I both screamed and absolutely lost our minds when USA beat France by a point.
We watched the first two seasons of Unrivaled, and are making plans to hopefully go to Miami in January in order to see a game.
Gainbridge Fieldhouse is a vibe--it's fun and upbeat and probably the best place to see a basketball game (outside of McLeod Center on the UNI campus of course).
Last summer I got to see the Fever play the Golden State Valkryies at Gainbridge and I finally got to see Kate Martin play in person. We weren't planning on going to any games this year, but we got an opportunity to see the Fever play at Gainbridge for the second to last home game of the season against the Mystics, and Tabi and I are going.
So, what's the deal, Toni, you might ask. Why is women's basketball your total jam?
First, it's insanely fun to see such strong amazing women play sports. I feel this way about seeing any women's sports at this point (women's professional baseball is starting up this summer and I am stupidly excited about it).
Second, the personalities are so fun. Social media is great for this. The teams do a lot of behind the scenes where you get to see them practice, and answer silly questions and do silly things.
I realize I am an atypical women's basketball fan. I am fine with watching games after they have aired, even if I know the score already. It's not the score that is important to me, it's the story of how they got there. I also have multiple favorite teams and players. While Kate Martin is my overall favorite, I feel the need to cheer for all of the players. I would be hard pressed to find a player I don't enjoy in some manner. I will say that I think the Connecticut Sun and the Chicago Sky are boring, so I am less likely to watch them.
I am also a baby fan. This coming summer (if there's a season) will be my third WNBA season. I am, due to life reasons, not planning to go to see any games this summer, but I am definitely going to be watching. I am learning a lot--I have been devouring books and documentaries and Wikipedia pages. 'Coming Home' by Britney Griner was beautiful and sad--I am glad that she was able to come home and continue to play basketball.
There's a lot of amazing life lessons too--not giving up when things are hard; rely on your team; love your people through good times and bad.
Like this clip of A'ja Wilson talking, because if she has a hard time being who she is, as great of a player as she is, I don't know, it makes me feel better somehow--not that I feel good that she might have struggles, but that someone as good as A'ja feels like that too makes me not feel alone.
And I know that of all the things going on in the world that basketball is not important. But it's nice to have something that isn't so life and death to love with all my heart. It gives me a break, a place where I don't have to be a mom, I don't have to deal with mental health challenges, the amount of existential dread at the moment and I can just cheer for my team.
Somehow, basketball has saved my life in the last year, and I am eternally grateful for it.
And I can't wait to see where Kate Martin ends up next.
