Women’s sports hasn’t been given the proper air time, ever, on the national stage. That changed this weekend as the women’s college hoops championship game was aired on ABC on Sunday afternoon. Although, some still complained that it should’ve been played at prime time instead of 3:30.

But it wasn’t how good the game was or who won that has now made women’s college basketball one of the gang along with the main men’s professional leagues. It’s what everyone was talking about after the game. The officiating.

This was a great opportunity for NCAA women’s basketball to join the national conversation and instead the talk of the game is the referees and their collective incompetence. A missed opportunity. #NCAAChampionship

— David P. Samson (@DavidPSamson) April 2, 2023

I actually couldn’t disagree with David more.

One of the most popular topics after any men’s sporting event is the officials. How bad they were. What specific penalty didn’t get called. How we all can’t believe they missed that pass interference. Finally, how did that (insert superstars name) got away with so many fouls.

We all do it. And it’s becoming more prevalent every year.

Examples in the NFL

How did Patrick Mahomes score his first touchdown in the Super Bowl two months ago? Anyone remember?

I bet a lot of you remember that holding call at the end though that put the Chiefs in prime field goal position to win the game off the kick.

What about the AFC Championship game. Do you remember the score? No? But we all remember how that Bengals player hit Mahomes just as he went out of bounds and got that penalty. Basically, handing the game to the Chiefs. I remember that play being shown like the Zapruder film the next day.

I can’t remember that woman’s name on LSU that was lighting it up in the first half on Sunday. But I can remember the technical foul Caitlin Clark got that was questionable.

Yet LSU coach Kim Mulkey damn near swats at a ref and doesn’t get called for it? Interesting. But that’s the beauty of it. We’re talking about it. Just like we would with football, baseball, basketball and hockey.

Every Hero Needs a Villian

The other box to check on the initiation list was to have a villain. And we certainly got that at the end of the game too.

The site of Angel Reese chasing after Clark and hitting her with the you can’t see me taunt and pointing to her ring finger is icing on the cake for networks. Afterwards, she doubled down on it and basically said this is who I am, love it or hate it. That’s next level.

That’s the stuff that gets remembered for a long time. Any of you know how many points Reese had yesterday? Nope. And it doesn’t matter. She’s the chick that hit an opponent with the John Cena taunt after winning the national title.

Sports needs villains to help keep things interesting. The next best thing behind a team you love to root for, a team you love to hate. And next year LSU is going to be that team we love to root against.

And just for the record, what Reese did is straight up taunting. During an NFL game, she would be suspended half the year for doing that.

I understand Clark did it in the Elite Eight. But she also did it while walking towards her bench in passing the other team. Reese practically chased her down the court and was persistent on doing it. There is a difference.

Coach Carter would be very disappointed in Reese that she took the game he loves with trash talk and taunting. Additionally he would say, you can’t show some class, act like a champion.

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For more from the author Jeramy Stover, check him out on Twitter here: @jstover96

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