WNBA killing golden goose

I had never heard of University of Iowa’s Clark until two years ago and have been bombarded with Clark since. That’s fine. She’s a fantastic basketball player and is the modern NCAA Division I scoring leader. She deserved all the accolades she received after leading the Hawkeyes to the Final Four two straight years and the NCAA women’s championship game this season.

(As an aside, the actual collegiate leader is former University of Kansas star Lynette Woodard, but she played under the umbrella of Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, which was the sport’s governing body during her time at Kansas, from 1977 to 1981. The NCAA took over the year after she graduated).

But back to Clark. The No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever, Clark has been a boon to a league that has a struggled to draw fans. Now, fans are packing arenas to get a glimpse of the biggest name to enter women’s pro ball in its history.

And apparently her peers are upset by all the attention on Clark. It started with the biggest red ass this side of Jeff Kent in Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi, who basically told Clark to watch out after she turns pro.

Since then, the talking-head media world has driven the Clark story into the ground. When she was left off the US Olympic team roster, social media, and Twitter in particular, lost its collective mind. I had to make sure I wasn’t reading just one long thread when I was on Twitter. But nope, it was post after post after post about Clark’s omission.

This, after weeks of highlights showing other players taking shots at Clark during games, that they try to play it off as, “basketball is a physical game.”

But it’s not that physical. There is no doubt, as far as I’m concerned, that many of these WNBA players are purposely targeting Clark and continue to do so — whether on the court or in the media.

I have no doubt that a lot of it is simply jealously on the part of veteran players, who have struggled for years to not only make money but to bring attention to the league. Now, a 22-year-old, first-year player has turned the league, and the sport itself, on it’s head.

And the biggest loser in all of this? Clark herself, who has done nothing other than put her head down and go to work. She has said nothing about the physical treatment, other to say that it’s part of the game.

Clark has handled this situation infinitely better than everyone else — peers and talking heads — which is pretty impressive for a 22-year-old. It’s not her fault her team and the league trots her out for interviews before and after every game she plays. It’s not her fault that other players take cheap shots at her. She simply picks herself up and keeps balling. It’s not her fault that she was defaulted into becoming the face of the WNBA.

Her only fault is that she is a tremendous basketball player and apparently the WNBA doesn’t like that.

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Tuesday, Riordan High School announced Craig Sargent as the school’s new baseball manager.

Sargent is a 2007 graduate of Carlmont, where he played varsity baseball. He went on to play at College of San Mateo before transferring to Arizona State University, where he got a degree in communications while playing for the sch0ol’s club team.

Sargent will be the Crusaders’ third manager in three years. He replaces Brian Ceinar Jr., who guided the team to a 7-19-2 overall record and 0-14 in West Catholic Athletic League play this year. He lasted a season after replacing Brandon Ramsey, a 2002 Serra graduate who coached the Crusaders from 2014 to 2023.

Riordan baseball has struggled mightily for years. The Crusaders are mired in a 28-game, WCAL losing streak, having gone 0-14 the last two seasons. The last time the Crusaders even posted a .500 season was in 2008, when Ron Isola led them to a 16-16 record and haven’t had a winning season since before the 2005 season.

Sargent, a real estate agent in Burlingame, has a connection to Riordan. His father, Bob Sargent, is a 1982 Riordan grad who became a pitching coach for both San Mateo American Legion and Carlmont, as well as head JV coach at Serra.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.