The Fumble: Indiana Fever's Success Without Caitlin Clark
The Fumble: Indiana Fever’s Success Without Caitlin Clark, Bruce Pearl’s Abrupt Auburn Exit & More
The WNBA is smack in the middle of its playoffs. It’s already seen last year’s winners, the New York Liberty, get the boot, as a new team of ladies looking to hoist the trophy.
One of those teams nearing the Finals is the Indiana Fever. The only thing is, they’re doing it without Caitlin Clark, who was benched for the season while trying to rehab a nagging groin injury.
Now the Fever’s success has become a point of contention among Clark haters, rather than just saluting the team’s success in her absence (with a major shoutout to Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston).
“It’s so ironic that they’re doing it without Caitlin Clark. I think a lot of the Caitlin Clark detractors are having a field day. I think they’re actually enjoying this run by the Indiana Fever,” co-host Rodney Rikai says. “It kind of validates what many say about Caitlin Clark, right? Like a lot of people are like, ‘See, she’s not that good…’ You know, unfortunately, we just live in such divisive times.”
As college basketball fans get ready for the NCAA season to begin, one of the SEC’s best coaches has called it quits. Longtime Auburn coach Bruce Pearl has abruptly stepped down from his post after the program’s best (32-6) season in history. Rumors say it’s because he’s eyeing a pivot to politics, but he’s turned down the idea of grabbing an Alabama seat in the Senate.
Samaria is an Auburn alum and says it’s important to remember that Pearl isn’t disappearing; he’ll remain on the athletic director’s right hand, and his son is the new interim head coach.
Additionally, he has rubbed some people the wrong way with his pro-Charlie Kirk stance and other controversial political views.
“I think that we got to start with the war in Gaza. That’s really where all of this started because Bruce Pearl is Jewish, and he lets it be known that he is proud to be Jewish, and he was pro-Israel because he was very outspoken about his stance on the war in Gaza. I think that afforded him opportunities to be on certain networks, and I felt like maybe he got comfortable, like, ‘okay, wait a minute, I think I found my people on these networks,’ and that wasn’t really what got him in trouble.”
Samaria also digs into Pearl’s backlash for his divisive comments directed at former President Barack Obama.
On the latest episode of The Fumble, he also chopped it up with Pharaoh Brown to talk about his NFL days and the best tight ends in history.
The Fumble: Indiana Fever’s Success Without Caitlin Clark, Bruce Pearl’s Abrupt Auburn Exit & More was originally published on cassiuslife.com
